The Five
by purplepit
Summary: The Company of Light is determined to stop the most wanted criminals in the Magical Dimension; the Wizards of the Black Circle. But before, they'll need the help of four enhanced magical beings raised by the wizards themselves. Follow Flora, Brandon, Layla and Riven in their journey to find themselves while trying to stop the wizards from releasing unknown havoc.
1. one: extraction

**Hey guys! Welcome to the first rewritten chapter of The Five (was one coloring). Thank you for selecting this story, I hope you guys like it. **

**Just a general, more detailed description of this story, the main ships are FloraxHelia, BrandonxStella, LaylaxNabu and RivenxMusa but there will be BloomxSky and TechnaxTimmy. This story focuses a lot on Flora and Helia not just as a ship but also as characters who have a lot of emotions and are conflicted hence my decision to write it in different characters' PoVs.**

**This story has mature themes. Mild language but some flashbacks and fight scenes may seem too gory and graphic for some readers, but I will put warnings at the beginning of the chapters just in case.**

**I do not own Winx Club. **

**Flora's POV**

Tonight has been the coldest night so far, the most quiet too. Something in the air feels eerie, ominous. I can't see the sky but with the crisp atmosphere, I can tell that clouds dome over the night with snow or hale. I walk through the dark wood walls of the main hallway, taking caution not to disturb anyone. I run my fingers along the walls, tracing the wood. The floor is clean like the usual but somehow it creaks as I lightly place my right foot. I reach the end of the hallway and stop at the main door; locked shut. The thick metal door radiates a similar energy guarding it. The warm force pushes me to let out a low sigh of relief. I lean by the door, soaking in the heat and also guarding it from my imaginary enemies.

I stare at my green leggings that somehow keep me warm in this cold. I tuck my hands into the inside of my cardigan, attracted to the heat. It's when I blank out my brain for a few minutes before coming back.

The silence almost feels ominous. I shift my eyes and watch the idle hall, I secretly wish that Riven would come out of one of the doors to talk to me. The whispers between Layla and Brandon has left me with my own disastrous imagination as to what they could be keeping from us; keeping me on edge about our safety, our future. Riven and I have discussed this in private; hoping to calm our paranoia but only end up feeding it. A recent conversation we had outside the laboratory replayed in my head.

_"__What do you think?" I ask as I cross my arms in front of me. "They would never keep a secret from both of us unless it concerns escaping." Riven spoke quietly with an irritated voice while running his fingers through his hair. _

_"__If that's the case, they can't be doing it alone. They would need help. Someone from the outside. Otherwise they would have done it years before." I fuel the theory, trying to make sense of our observations. _

_The thought of someone knowing our situation here in Tarnen excites me. For years, the only exciting thing has been our missions outside which happens only once every two or three months, every month if you're like Brandon with his speed and agility. This secret feeds me, I don't know if Riven feels the same but I can sense his concern and urgency in his tone. It probably pisses him off not to be included in something. In my case whatever this 'something' is, it's a threat and it makes my heart beat faster. But at the same it scares me. I don't want the adrenaline to control me again._

_My mind goes to a place I never would think it would go. Layla and Brandon leaving. They're going to leave me, going to leave us. The most positive, most optimistic people in my life; gone. For a split second I think about going with them, but that would oppose the only thing I've been waiting and working for; my family. They would never leave us willingly, but I just can't. I think hard about the days without them, when it was just Riven and me but I can't. Those days were dark and so long ago. My chest gets heavier with the thought. _

_"__Do you think we should tell them?" The muscular frame in front of me is referring to the wizards inside the lab. I quickly shake my head and whisper a "Shh." Thank the gods for the soundproof walls._

_Riven has always been the most mature one in my eyes, regardless of the fact that he is the oldest one between all four of us. I've been with the guy for as long as I can remember and I can say that he can be both mature and very immature. I don't know if this is because of his constant mood swings but his determination is what makes me look up to him. He's the kind of sibling who would tell the parents that his younger brother broke a vase. He isn't a snitch or anything he just firmly believes in his own logic._

_"__Riv, We can't. Imagine the punishment for Layla and Brandon. We can't." I say with an unsteady voice, lowering my volume._

_"__Okay." He pauses and formulates a plan, at least that's what his face looks like. "We can't just let them-" _

_He wasn't able to continue because the lab door opened and revealed Duman, telling us that the serums for us were ready. _

That afternoon was when the wizards reminded us that all four of them would have to leave the next night. It hit me almost instantly; tomorrow night is the night. Usually Ogron, Duman, Anagan and Gantlos would go out in pairs, one pair on the mission and the other to keep us put, but this home alone event has been scheduled for months. It's something very important if they had to go out all together. I could only assume but the conditions tonight make it seem impossible to break in. There's the hard-to-navigate terrain of Tarnen, and then there's the possible snow or hale outside, then the trench we're hidden in and finally this door.

The four of us had never kept secret from the others for the nine years we've been together. I'm ninety nine percent sure that the secret is about escaping the hold of the wizards. Major topics like those are topics Riven and I don't like. We don't agree. We can't leave. We have to stay.

That's when Layla opens a door to the hallway snapping me out of my thoughts. I stand up straight from the door, leaving its warmth. She was wearing black joggers and a light green hoodie with her hair tied in a bun.

"Hey." She calls as she inserts her hands inside her pockets, searching for heat. There's no doubt that the hallway is colder as compared to the other spaces in our lonely home; which is why we usually find the comfort we need in our rooms. But tonight is not a normal night.

She walks towards me, minding my peace. The dead air around us makes the silence more ominous, creating tension; their secrecy has definitely affected our relationship.

"Are they gone?" Layla whispers as she lowered her head. I nod and move my head to the right, motioning to the door. I turn my gaze back to her. She inhales almost instantly and walks to my side.

"I'm not going to pretend you're deaf. You and Riv are smart and we know you're curious." The straightforward words take me back. She has to come clean.

"And are you going to tell me what you're keeping from us?" I ask almost angrily. The burden of cluelessness rush over me like the nights I waste thinking about what the secret could be.

She then leads me to my room, claiming that it was dangerous to talk about it in the hallway where there are security cameras. Layla held my hand through the walk, almost like reassuring me. I'm not sure what for but I let her. We reach my room after a few twists and turns.

She invites me to sit on the bed, which I do. I face her with one foot folded in front of me. She does the same.

"Okay." Her blue eyes disappear under her eyelids as she takes a deep breath. "We met some people outside. Brandon did. He found a group of special people who promised to help us."

"Help us? With what? We're all right here. Nothing's wrong." I say with my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Everything is wrong Flo. It's been years, more than a decade since the wizards made that promise. They've been keeping us here like their little dolls, ready to deploy for their experiments." She counters.

"What makes you trust these people you haven't even met? You're taking Brandon's word for it? In exchange for your family?" I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. Every time family is mentioned, I just snap. It's the one topic that keeps me, and I would assume the others, going.

Layla knows me well and grabs both my hands and we immediately share warmth. "I know this is hard for you but we're your family. Me, Brandon and Riven." She pauses and looks straight into my eyes. "We're not going to leave each other. I know you want to find your real family, just like the wizards promised but doesn't it ever cross your mind that they're just taking advantage of us? Taking advantage of our hope? They're taking our freedom." I see her determined eyes glossed with salty water as a tear already runs down my cheek. She's not wrong. I have been with the wizards for thirteen years and I obey them by the promise of my family. Something in me refuses to believe what Layla's saying. Have I wasted my life with the wizards? I've given up my freedom, the beauty of the world in exchange for my family; but now my closest friend is telling me that I've given it up for nothing, I've been working towards a dream that didn't exist. No, I can't. I can't believe her.

"The wizards are bad people. They're thieves and they've been manipulating us. These people, The Company of Light swear to give us our freedom if we help them figure out what the wizards are doing." She grips my hands tighter, trying to convince me. Layla has been my best friend. She knows what's going on inside my head. Since we reached our teen years we've been able to read each other flawlessly. She knows she can't convince me but she continues her efforts.

"I-I don't know that to do with that." I stumble on my words with another pair of tears falling from my eyes. I stand up from the bed to emphasize how hard it this is for me. I stand by the door folding my hands tucking it into my cardigan. My eyes continue to release water. "For months, the secret's been haunting me and Riven. I know well what it's about b-but now that you're laying it all on me... I don't know what to do with it. But..." I stop to bite my inner cheek. I'm not processing what I'm about to say. I know what I should say but I can't find a way to let it out properly, to decrease the pain my next few words will bring.

I avoid her gaze, knowing that this will disappoint her. "I'm not going."

"Flo, please just consider this. I need you to think this all through. The wizards are monsters-" She stands up to walk towards me but I move. I can see sweat forming up on her face.

"No. I'm not going with your friends. And I think I speak for Riven when I say No." I refuse harshly, like I'm heartless, seeing her face crowd with tears.

"Please Flora. Just consider-"She does more pleading just before I hear a beep. Layla quickly, with her left hand reaches into the pocket of her hoodie. She looks at a small circle that lights up, like an alarm. The fact that I don't know the device takes me to the realization that whatever the beep was is somehow related to this whole secret plan of theirs.

She almost jumps after reading the words on the circular gadget. "I need to go." She rushes to the door and I let her. "Everything is going to be fine." She tells me and gives me more confusion. She closes the door and I let my head fall. I can't go with them. I set my mind to this decision. That's when I hear my door move lightly. Given its soundproof ability, I know what that nudge was.

I run to it, coming to my senses of their plan. It's happening tonight. The escape is tonight. She locked me in. I bang the door begging her to let me out even if I know that it's useless. "Layla! Let me out of here!" I scream and bang the door to get her attention but I the soundproof walls and doors don't let me. I cry harder with the realization of their plan. They're going to take us with them even without our approval.

Something in my gut tells me that while Layla was here with me, Brandon was inside Riven's room doing the same debriefing. I could only wish that he made sense of their plan and would open this door for me, but really where else would we go? We could only fight back, but even with that there's no guessing what kind of arsenal this Company of Light has. My mind briefly forms a situation where I had to fight both Layla and Brandon with Riven. We have done it before in front of the wizards, and it wasn't fun.

I started formulating a plan. I can't reach Riven so I'll have to pray that he's ready to go with whatever I do. The only way I could stop them would be to warn the wizards; they'll come rushing back. The only way to do that would be through the control room. I could contact them through there, but surely Layla and Brandon have that secured.

That's when I hear a soft thump from outside. There must have been an explosion, a loud one that not even the walls could keep quiet. I could only make sense of the sound to be the blasting of the main door. They've gotten in. I quickly tie my hair up and remove my cardigan, in preparation for whatever fight comes through that door. This is it, my excitement. I raise my hand to wipe my tears and get ready to attack.

**Helia's POV**

The hale from the night sky chased us down the trench. The harnesses that lowered us down started accumulating ice for the minute it's been exposed. All eight of us would be like the harness if it wasn't for the heat and oxygen barriers they provided us with. "Good thing we have Bloom as backup in case these barriers decide to freeze." Stella makes a remark which I can set as an example as to why she was needed to be part of this mission. The Princess of Solaria keeps up the morale of the team, and not to mention she's very persuasive.

The others are on the Owl above us, guarding the harnesses. Musa and Nabu are helping to operate the ship with the elders. I hear the voice of the music fairy in my earpiece. "That's it. That's the platform."

I leave my thoughts and swing my legs back and forth to get a grip on an icy extension of a rock. We reach a platform with a metal wall. This is it. I told myself. The Company's been studying the wizards and their mutants for almost seven years and we have the privilege to take it into action. All the members of the Company have been training and planning for this extraction for a year now but only the lucky six got selected with an addition of an elder. I was gratified to join the extraction team with Sky, Timmy, Techna, Bloom and Stella. Headmistress Griffin accompanies us with this nerve-wreaking mission. The entire extraction team is dressed in tight, thermal blue suits with gray white and yellow details at the sides at the chest.

Just as I was able to remove my harness, I see Sky tap on his watch. It's a watch we all have to alert the others of our status with a connected earpiece. From the sound it made I could tell that He alerted Layla and Brandon inside.

"Go ahead." My blonde friend gives the signal to Headmistress Griffin who places herself in front of the metal door. She starts chanting words I could only make out as Latin, trying to pull down the spell protecting it. I approached the metal wall and noticed the slow diminishing of energy, along with its temperature lowering. A few seconds later and the wall is simply a metal door.

We look to the two fairies, standing just by the end of the platform, preparing a convergence to melt the door. Bloom has her red hair tied into a low bun with her bangs out; Stella on the other hand has her hair tied in two long braids. They hold hands and leave the other hand directed towards the door. I see Timmy and Techna beside me taking cover behind a techno shield put up by Techna. I move to a rock behind me and quickly duck. On the other side Sky activates his phantoshield and moves to protect Headmistress Griffin from debris. I can feel the air around us get warmer. A yellow glow flows through them originating from their conjoined hands and comes out of the other. The collision resulted in a very loud explosion, some surrounding ice to melt and steam to rise. Our identical navy blue suits are now coated in small droplets of water.

As the water vapor moves out of view we spot Layla and Brandon. Sky rushes to put away his shield and takes both of them into a short embrace. I never really got used to their names, since we only learned them four months ago when Sky got a hold on Brandon.

I try to shake my head into a serious tone as we enter, from the looks of it, the main hallway. I didn't expect this kind of interior design from the wizards. The hallway looks quite homey; the warm lights bounce nicely off of the dark stained wood walls. Just from the entrance I can see picture frames on the wall which intrigue me. Do these heartless monsters keep art? If so what kind? Though I would never hold their status against them but they don't strike me for art enthusiasts.

We meet the two rescues and lay out our plan. "Timmy?" I call him out.

"Oh um..." He gathers his thoughts as he lifts his glasses up to his nose bridge with his index finger. "We need a guide to all the rooms that withhold all kinds of data. Anything from books to desktops, journals, hard drives, servers." Timmy looks at the rescues and almost immediately, Brandon volunteers.

"There's the laboratory, the control room and the archive which is guarded by a strong spell." The Brunette says. That's when I start to notice their features. We have been studying all four of them, but I never looked at them from this distance. Brandon stands tall, close to around my height and has a body structure like Sky's. He's dressed in brown cotton pants and an orange and black detailed long-sleeve top. He looks like a Specialist if you ask me. I expected Stella, the fashionista to make a comment on their clothing but she doesn't.

"Then I'll go. I shall take the archive." Headmistress Griffin says, hoping to break the spell that surrounds the wizards' archive. The three, Headmistress Griffin, Timmy and Techna leave with Brandon. That leaves me, Sky, Bloom and Stella with Layla.

We walk down the hallway with Layla in front. "Okay. Riven and Flora are in their rooms." She stops at the entrance of another hallway and steps aside, signaling us to enter first. "We had to lock them in there when we told them. They would have warned the wizards if we didn't." She says as I pass by her to enter the corridor. Her height is similar to Stella's making her taller than Bloom. I then begin to notice her clothes; a mint green hoodie with a black and gray pair of joggers, her haired tied up in a singular bun, high on her head.

That's when I get close enough to see her face covered in glossy lines; tearstained. I had to ask her, just by instinct "Are you okay?" The words seem silly as they slip out of my tongue. Surely, the mission tonight made everyone anxious. I see her gulp and nod her head.

We stop at a door on the left. It's sealed in familiar pink goo which could only come from Layla. "Riven's in there. From what I Brandon said, he didn't like our plan. He might have set up a trap in there." She warns and we listen intently. "Bloom and I will take take him." Sky looks to me, and I nod with a stern look.

"Don't hurt him." Layla looks at Bloom and Sky with her blue eyes.

"Do you have your tranquilizers?" Stella asks, trying to give Layla some comfort.

"Yeah. We'll be alright." Bloom looks at her best friend and then nods at Layla, signaling her that they're ready to enter. The pink goo on the door quickly flies to Layla's hand and we move on.

We walk further into the narrow hallway and stop at another door with pink morphix on it. "I'm not sure what's going to happen when you go in there. Things with her can go either easy or really difficult." Layla warns us. Stella adjusts the small black bag on her right hip and check on the two syringes with a blue chemical inside. I look down to my same pouch as I adjust my beige gloves, preparing myself.

"We can handle it Layla. Go check on Sky and Bloom. We'll call if something goes wrong." I say and the mutant lifts her hand and absorbs the morphix.

We walk silently into a relatively spacious bedroom with white walls. I take a deep breath, not just to calm my nerves but the room had extremely crisp oxygen; fresh air. I notice all the plants but we can't see Flora. Her name sounds foreign in my head as we used to call her green, like the glow she has. The blanket and pillows on the bed are messed up. I move to my right by what looks like her closet. That's when we hear a shatter, like a plate breaking from a door on the left. Stella walks towards the left, aiming to open the door which we could only identify as the bathroom.

"Helia." The blonde fairy has her eyes open wide and tilts her head to the door next to her. She has her hand on the door knob and I lift my right hand, the one with my laser glove. I hope she comes out of the bathroom peacefully and agree to come with us, so I wouldn't have to wrap her up in the bright yellow strings of my glove.

Stella opens the door and I spot a syringe in her other gloved hand. The princess disappears into the bathroom and I feel someone behind me. My nose picks up a rose scent and I know it's her. Flora. I try not to move, pretending that I can't smell her. But she moves first, I can feel things climb up my legs; her vines.

I clear my mind with another deep breath. I click a different setting for my gloves quietly. I turn my upper body to the left and that is when yellow lasers release from my gloves. All I see is how my lasers collided with a green and pink wall put up by the rescue. By the corner of my eye, I see Stella coming out of the bathroom, tumbling. Something in the bathroom caused this, a poisonous plant maybe? I see the princess hold on to the bathroom door to keep her up.

I managed to keep the mutant busy with her shield as Stella hit her with an attack; a weak one. I see Flora slam into her closet, breaking the wood doors on it; I guess it wasn't that weak of an attack. This buys me time. I aim my lasers to the vines that are now up to my thighs and by the time I get out of them, Stella was already on the floor with the blue syringe still in her hands. I run to her to make sure she's all right. I kneel down and find her breathing. A temporary relief washes over but at the instant that I lift my head up, I get blasted into the wall by a powerful green force.

I sit on the floor, trying to recover quickly from the blast but I see fast vines wrapping around me, pinning me to the wall. I guess she wants to go through this the hard way. I can't gain proper consciousness to try and battle the dark green ropes. Don't fight it. I tell myself as the vines tape both my hands to the side of my body. I look to a standing figure with a green glow in her hands. I fixate my blurry vision on her and it clears.

That's when I notice her eyes. Her eyes are narrow and have a green center. Like Layla she has tear stains on her cheek, reflecting light. Her tanned skin appears to be glowing from the warm lights inside the room. She had her caramel brown hair in a pony tail that was messy; I assume that this was caused by her body slamming into her closet. I can see her chest moving in her pink shirt; she's trying to catch her breath. The way her back is hunched slightly and the way she breathes; she's conflicted. It's probably why she had to have one of us trapped, to answer her questions. I then see both her hands glowing green and I see vines forming on the door; locking us from the inside. No one from the outside can help us now. That's when the vines around me stop moving; I prepare myself for her words.

Her green eyes look directly into my blue ones. "What do you want with us?" Her first words take me back. Her voice ran smoothly but aggressively and it made it more obvious that she is conflicted, curious. She walks towards me, trying to assert authority. I try to make up a plan in my mind but nothing comes, except one. I think to wiggle my right hand out of the vine holding it but it's guaranteed that she'll know. I run ideas in my head. Why not use my skill with words to persuade? I try to find a weak spot in her. Then I remember the tear stains, She and Layla must have been talking about a sensitive topic hence the glossy cheeks, but what could have they talked about? What idea could've made her cry? I look around her room, clearly if one should look for a weakness, it would be in their bedroom. That's when I see a picture frame by her bed, Its Flora, Layla, Brandon and Riven. They all look so young in the picture, so peaceful.

She repeats the question, louder this time and I turn my eyes back to her. "Peace." I say calmly, waiting for a response from that vague answer. Her face softens and her lips separate lightly. "The wizards are bad people. They're the most feared criminals in the entire Magic Dimension." It doesn't take much; my words cause her face to soften lightly. Her mind is confused, filled with new information. She hangs her head lower to concentrate so I take the chance and wiggle my right hand out.

Quickly, I blast a laser into her leg. Her smooth voice transforms into a high scream and I see her collapse onto the floor. I see her face, red and wet from sweat, the brunette was holding tightly onto her left calf. I blast my way out off her web of vines. I quickly glance at her and see the burn I've caused. It's not that deep. I reassure myself. The pain from the laser keeps her distracted and I run to her to inject the tranquilizer into her bloodstream. She collapses onto the floor completely. I wait for her green irises to disappear under her lids. The following silence pushed me to look around the room. Instead of roses I smell burning flesh.

**So... How did you guys like it? Leave a review if you guys have questions and I'll try to reply to them either with the next chapter or through pm! **


	2. two: aftermath

**Hey there! I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter. Thank you for all of the feedback!**

**This chapter has a lot of scenes (there's both BreandonxStella and FloraxHelia). It's written in Brandon and Helia's POV. **

**Also, a winx club reference... this chapter shows the solaria rings shown in season three.**

**This chapter contains mild language.**

**Brandon's POV**

Somehow sitting alone in the dining room brought me peace. Usually the silence brought out paranoid thoughts but with all the questions and new introduced information, I find my lonesomeness calming. The kitchen has this round table in the middle with six round stools around it. The light, the white light boosted the solidarity of the room, dangling above the center of the table. The silence brought me a short relief. We're safe, we're free. I take a spoonful of this soup the Company made and wash it down with water. The round table in front of me provided a blank canvas for my thoughts.

My mind wouldn't even dare to imagine what the wizards are doing right now. Are they Mad? Yes, no question. Are they tracking us down? I begin to wonder about the lengths they would go to retrieve us. Burning Villages to find us? It's no doubt that we're important to them. We're keys to a plan they've been brewing. Imagine ruthless wizards raising and training four children for a decade and a half? That's something you don't just do without payoff. We're steps to a plan they've been plotting. And I'm more than determined to find out and to stop their plan.

I'm not particularly proud of my upbringing but they somehow didn't bother to alter our personalities, our inner morals which is probably why we're here now, rebelling and not some psychopathic murderers.

I had just finished dinner when Stella sat down next to me. There go my thoughts. It's probably for the best. The blonde was wearing an orange and yellow kimono under a white shirt and yellow pants. I give her a small smile, implicating that I enjoy the company. "You're on night duty?" I ask her, given the hour that she's here with me. I check the wall clock just across in the kitchen. It's ten in the evening.

"Yeah, sort of, I'm off before midnight. I'm more of a morning person but I guess we all have to make sacrifices." She proceeds to ask me how I've been holding up since we left Tarnen, only to get a false reply.

"I'm Fine."

Her voice enters my ears. "I've heard those plenty of times, from my Mom, my Dad… plenty enough to know it's not true when you say it like that." I turn my head to look at her.

Her golden eyes staring back at me, reminding me that she's the princess of Solaria but also a child of divorce. "I'm worried." I open up with a vague answer with my head on a memory.

My brain suddenly flashed into about six or five months ago when Stella had her grand ball for her birthday. That night was the faithful night I met Sky and found out about the Company.

_"__Her eyes are yellow, gold almost. She's easy to spot."Anagan tells me before we teleport and reach Solaria. The realm holds this day as a holiday just for their princess' birthday, Stella._

_"__Anagan's going to get one of those fancy rings then he'll give it to you by the bar, then when everyone is at the ballroom for cake, you go find this room. It's called…" Duman continues but I answer, to prove my dedication to the mission._

_"__Solarium." It's essentially a room with a small ball of light in the middle, the essence of the second sun. That's what the wizards keep telling me. _

_Now I have to sneak into the ballroom, blend in, wait the ring, then wait for a cake blowing, then speed through the room and grab a piece of the essence. It can't possibly be that easy as they tell me. It's the kingdom of Solaria for heaven's sake. They have the strictest policies and the most disciplined people. If there's one thing I'll have trouble with in this heist, it would be the security. Other parts of the castle can't be left unguarded while the guests indulge a glowing cake. _

_We reach the side of the castle. Duman immediately shape shifts into this old Solarian man in an expensive-looking suit. The suit looks like mine except mine has yellow lining to appeal to the rich and fancy people invited. _

_I get inside the castle without raising any eyebrows. I see the majestic venue of the event. White and gold walls and furnishes. A grand staircase by the back of the room, some tables by the sides, bordering the huge space on the floor to socialize. The ballroom is packed with so many familiar people, not people I know personally, but people we study back at home. There's the King Erendor and Queen Samara of Eraklyon and their son Sky. A high status fairy from Eraklyon too, Diaspro I think is her name. I also spot King Oritel from Domino. I continue to investigate the people inside, enjoying the pop quiz in my head. _

_By the right side of the grand staircase, there's the Queen Rachel and Princess Krystal from Lynphea with a high status guy from Knightley. There's Galatea, the Princess of Melody with the older princesses of Domino, Daphne. _

_As much as I would love to enjoy the grand party with their expensive booze and delicious food, I have a heist to carry out. I wait by the bar, holding a glass to blend in. The King Radius starts to speak when a blurry image passes beside me. Anagan. I look down and see a ring, the crest of the royal family of Solaria on it. The cake was put out and I see the Princess of Solaria walking slowly down the staircase. She is like they described, at least appearance wise. From the entrance of the ballroom, you can see the gold in her eyes. Her dress was quite simple and clean. The blonde princess who has curls in her hair walks towards the cake. _

_That's my cue; I slip behind the staircase with speed. After a minute I've already stumbled upon hundreds of hallways that look the same. Then by the edge of one, I see a door. The door is bigger than the others and also has guards by each side. That's the Solarium. _

_I try to listen for the party to see if everything is according to plan. The guests were still in the middle of singing the second round of the happy birthday song to the princess. I strategize on how to defeat the guards by the edge of the wall near the hallway. The very best move I can do is cause a distraction by this end of the hall then speed to the room but-_

_My thought process was interrupted by a blonde male. The guy raises his forearm to my throat, sticking my back to the wall. I grunt with the surprise contact with the wall. It's not Anagan or Duman for sure, it makes my heart pound. I haven't been caught for the five years of completing missions, and I'm not going to start now._

_"__Where you headed?" I take a good look at the guy. It's Prince Sky of Eraklyon. I think to fight the guy but if I do, I would be news, I could be traced which is violates the first rule in missions. Never leave a trail. Perform the missions neatly. Shit._

_I resort to acting, pretending to be a clueless friend of Stella's. "Hey man, I'm just looking for the bathroom." I struggle under his hold._

_"__We know who you are. Stop lying." He says fiercely; and I see others come from the left. He loosens the push of his forearms for me to see his allies. It's the other princess of Domino, Bloom and the high status guy from Knightley._

The random memory leaves me blanking out. But the princess doesn't seem to be bothered by the brief silence. She nods her head and looks down, trying to be sympathetic. "I think I know the things you're worried about, but I also think that everything will be fine." She pauses to see what my reaction will be. I form a small smile from her opinion. "We'll do everything to protect you and your friends." I can hear the sincerity in her voice. Somehow her reassurance made me want to start a more complex conversation with her. For the past three days, all I've done was tell everything I know to Timmy, Techna and the elders or think and imagine, most aren't pretty thoughts or pictures. Her optimism and enthusiasm reach out to me, shedding light to my crowded brain. She is the fairy of the shining sun, very bright and charming.

Our conversation goes on for a while. She very much likes to speak about herself; I think she asks me questions to answer as a polite gesture. She tells me about her kingdom, Solaria and her duties. In return, I tell her what I do in Tarnen, nothing too depressing though. She also shares the troubles with Flora and what she remembers of her extraction.

That's when I remember that I have my own duties to attend to. I excuse myself and walk down the corridor and stop by a light brown wooden door and enter. I find an inviting chair near the wooden closet and occupy it.

I tap my finger on the wooden armchair. There's something so soothing about the sound it makes. As I do, I watch the second set of hands of the clock, moving clockwise every second. I time my finger tapping to the hands, entertaining myself.

I'm in Flora's room. Her new room. It's been about four days and a half after the extraction in Tarnen. They told me that she wasn't easy to convince; she wasn't convinced at all. Stella told me about how Flora conjured up a plant and made her faint. I gathered more details of her extraction from Sky who was chatting with Layla earlier. Helia, I remember as the guy who has blue hair was apparently trapped by vines and he had no choice but to shoot Flora in the leg, but also the high ranking guy with Sky and Bloom that night.

I was told that she would wake up today since they decreased her dose on this medicine that I couldn't remember. She's just sleeping right now. No machines or IVs on her unlike earlier today when I checked up on her. She's wearing a white shirt with her brown hair scattered around the pillows.

Just as I was putting down the picture frame on the nightstand, I see Flora shaking her head on the pillow. Her light brown strands of hair move out of the way. She opened her eyes in time to see me by her side. I hold her hand to ensure her that she's safe. I feel her hand hold mine, looking for the ring on my middle finger. I look down to see her fingers on the ring and I let out a small smile "Hey Flo. How you feeling?" I ask with a smile, observing the small lines on her forehead.

She struggles to reply. She has been asleep for four days without saying a word. I see her gaze move past my head; she was looking at the ceiling. She speaks in a low raspy voice. "I'm a bit dizzy. I think it's from the light but its fine." The light. The light in the room is white, unlike the lights back home where everything is lit by a warm, almost yellow one.

"Here. It's just water." I leave the bed, letting go of her hand to grab the glass of water from the table near the door. "Can you sit up?" I ask as I walk back to the bed and she uses her hands to prop herself up to lean on the pile of pillows. She looks around the room slowly, adjusting to the space. I hand her the glass but she says something before taking a sip.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere safe." I say simply and her lips connect to the glass, sipping on the clear liquid. "I'm not sure where exactly, they won't tell us yet. The company secured this place." I give her more satisfaction in my answers. She gives back the glass of liquid and I set it on her nightstand next to her bed. I can tell that she's all very overwhelmed by the situation. I sit down on the bed again, ready to answer more of her questions.

"Riven?" Her green eyes look at me with concern.

"He's okay." A silence followed my reply.

She then makes the guilt worse by lifting the white blanket to reveal her bandaged left leg. She tries to point her foot, extending her skin to see how far it has healed but she was answered by a sting and lets out a little whimper. The burn on her leg was my fault, not directly but I feel the guilt sink into my chest as I watch a close friend in pain. I apologize inside my head, knowing she'd reject it with a reply like 'it's not your fault.'

"I took some of your stuff from back home." Tarnen, even with the wizards was still home. Even if we have been lied to for the past decade, we still grew up there, had our arguments, and had our accidents. I have to admit, that place wasn't so bad. If I would push, I'd say we were lucky to have a place to call home. She looks back to me and I show her the picture frame I salvaged after the extraction. "I had to take it."

I see a smile form, softening her face. My legs push me up and lead me to the closet; I grab a light pink wool cardigan and show it to her. "This too. I couldn't imagine you without it." Her smile grew even bigger, her eyes sparkling. Seeing her smile took the weight off my chest and makes me smile too. Those two things are the only ones I could take from her room. The photograph in the picture frame was something she begged the wizards to keep. Flora had a mission out in Zenith and had it printed from a flash drive that Anagan gave her with pity. I remember that she had to erase the memory of the person who serviced her with a plant, to avoid leaving a trail.

The cardigan on the other hand is a different story; it was a gift from me. The wizards set up my mission on Earth. It was a few days from Flora's 18th birthday and I told myself that I would find something to give her.

After I put back the cardigan inside the closet, I give her silence, hoping to get over this bump in my mind. I expect her to throw me off, call me a traitor, and call me unfair or weak because of the hand I extended to the Company. I always admired her hope about her family; it's the one thing that kept her back, the same with Riven. I wait for her words, I imagine her shouting at me for throwing away an opportunity. I expect to say sorry and explain everything to her, but she doesn't start, instead she arranges the pillows on her back and drifts away instantly.

**Helia's POV **

I wait for the sun to rise; the dark blue in the sky keeps me company. My dorm room in Red Fountain seems even lonelier with its idleness. I open the large triangular window. It permits the cool early morning breeze to enter the room, hitting my face first. I sit by the window, sketchpad and colors in front of me. My view from this room in the teacher's wing isn't the best but the fact that the room I was assigned to faced east was enough for me.

My schedule needs me at Alfea by seven. I have to leave twenty minutes earlier to take the scenic route, which I always prefer. I have time. I maximize the seconds I have and eat breakfast from the bowl I prepared earlier. I get dressed in a loose white button up with orange ties with dark red cotton pants. I put on these dark brown boots and put my satchel on my shoulder.

I slip out of the campus and disappear behind the tree line that surrounds it. The bottoms of my boots meet and sink into the rich green grass and brown soil. I walk slowly with my satchel by my side, admiring the little sunlight that penetrates the canopies up the trees. The trees that grow in these woods are only divided into four species, at least that's what my grandfather had always said. I look to my right and left, everywhere looks the same; healthy vegetation. I hear birds up in the trees, even some squirrels squeaking around. I follow the slightly brown grass to Alfea. This route is a common one for Specialists who don't have the privilege of using a wind rider to get to Alfea.

I enter the translucent gates and see the wide Alfea courtyard. The architecture of this establishment never ceases to amaze me. The high arched windows and doors, unusually shaped balconies and a pair of the staircases catch my eye instantly. Some students are walking across the yard, already up, probably preparing for classes or heading to the dining hall for breakfast. I enter the west block and walk through the indoor hallways. The interior of the school is as captivating as the exterior. High windows give way for the light to pass through while the arches continue inside with the form of doors and beam supports. The sight of the familiar big stained glass doors make me reach for my keys.

The first thing I notice once I get inside the base is the smell of... pancakes? I take a deep breath to confirm my guess. I can't decide. Maybe it's another concoction Palladium is making. I walk to the kitchen. I see Bloom facing the stove with a bowl that has this pale liquid inside. It is pancakes. Her red hair, glowing from the sunlight, moves and she faces me.

Of course it's Bloom; the cook. She isn't shy to show off her cooking skills which she shouldn't because she is good. Very good I would say. She has been taught by royal chefs back in Domino so I wouldn't expect less. She's wearing an off the shoulder sweater with blue stars on the front. She matches it with dark blue leggings and some boots. From what my brain can remember, the Princess of Domino was assigned early morning duty, this would be her last hour.

"Morning." I greet as I set my bag on the counter. "Morning. You want some?" She holds out a plate of cooked pancakes with fruits on the side, but I shake my head.

"Thanks though." I say while grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and sitting down on the table. I check the time to be ten minutes before seven.

"So are those for... them?" I ask after chewing the first bite of the red fruit. "Yeah, for Flora to be specific. I just figured they need something that isn't mixed with all kinds of medicines." She says as she flips the pancake in the pan. Bloom really does have a big heart, something anyone can easily read with her words and body language.

Her words bring up a new thought, Flora. The girl whose leg I burned with my blasters. Reasonable, the burn was reasonable especially since both Stella and I were comprised; but still, nobody could not feel guilty for being the reason one person can't walk properly.

"Brandon, Layla and Riven just left. And um… not to fan myself, but I can say they liked them very much." She states in a happier tone and faces back to me and gives a smirk after she sets the cooked dough on the plate beside her. She didn't act like she spent the past seven hours giving medicine and watching the four rescues.

"My guess is: the wizards aren't big on cooking, and these are the first pancakes they had." The princess jokes, it was entertaining but also insensitive. These kids didn't grow up like us. We don't know how they lived their lives inside Tarnen.

"Bloom." I counter in a serious tone.

"I know. I'm Sorry." She sighs lowly but enough for me to hear.

I'm briefly pulled back into the part of my brain that has been so active since the extraction. What life did the live inside that frozen wasteland? How did the wizards raise them? How did the most dangerous, most wanted men in the Magic Dimension raise these four kids?

But the enthusiastic Bloom pulls me back to reality. It's too early in the day to be thinking of that. "So who are you watching today?" The princess asks as she pours the last bit of batter into the pan. I swallow another piece of the fruit I've been chewing to answer. "I'm supposed to be subbing Techna on research but I think she's going to send me to Cloud Tower to pick up some books."

That's when we hear the door open, my mind immediately identifies the newcomer as Musa. The singing voice could only belong to her. Musa enters the kitchen with headphones in both ears. I make eye contact with her and smile, she takes off the headphones greets us both a good morning.

"Muse, you're watching over Layla for the morning right?" I walk and ask even before Bloom could offer her pancakes.

Her hair is in a single ponytail with a red hair tie that matches her red low cut sneakers. She has her favorite blue and white crop top and has this light washed denim bell bottom jeans with little embellishments.

"I am. Professor Dufour reminded me last night and said she needed to run tests on Layla and Brandon from nine to one. I think the test is with Headmistress Griffin at Cloud Tower." Musa shared all of that as she nodded yes to Bloom's pancakes and sat down on the round chair I just sat on.

"I thought professor Dufour wanted Riven and Brandon tested first?" Bloom asked and slid a plate towards Musa on the table. "I don't know." The music fairy raised her shoulders in question.

We all fall silent. The girls getting busy; one opens the faucet and begins to wash the utensils she used. The other is busy pouring extra syrup onto the two stacked pancakes before her.

Just before I can move grab my bag and head to the archive, Bloom asks for a favor. "Helia can you drop this plate off at Flora's? I need to run to finish an essay for Miss Griselda."

I nod and take the light blue ceramic plate from the edge of the counter and head towards the hallway. As I do, I look down and see the plate of dough. There sits a stack of three fluffy and golden brown pancakes with strawberries and whip cream on top.

I reach Flora's door. It isn't closed, only a small space before it could be. The small gap lets the sound from inside pass through. My ear catches a soft whimper and the voice of Nabu talking. He and Nurse Ofelia, have been in charge of watching and taking care of Flora because of her condition. Nabu has been working with Professor Palladium a lot since the past year, since he started fully committing to this. He gained interest in chemistry and medicine, pushing him to be Palladium's happy little helper.

I nudge the door to open halfway and see Nabu's side sitting on the bed in front of her. Her. She's sitting up, her hair behind the stacked pillows. I maintain undetected by the two with the help of the bulky closet by their right. I choose to spectate and observe the person we literally forced out of her home.

"My head's better now. I pretty sure the 'water' Brandon made me drink last night wasn't just that." She tells Nabu with a small smile and just adjusts herself on the bed. I remember the sound of her voice and how she talked back when I was wrapped in her vines. How can she be comfortable with a stranger? I expected more hostile behavior from her, everything considered.

"Well you're not wrong." Nabu replies with a small chuckle. He's wearing his grey button up shirt and white cotton pants replies as he opens the small kit he clearly brought with him.

He brings out this white elongated cloth and speaks. "Look I'll just change the bandages on your leg, and then I'll get you some breakfast okay?"

The mutant nods and lifts up the white blanket to reveal her heavily covered left calf. My braided friend gently peels off the tape around it and eventually a white cloth identical to the one he just brought out. I hear another soft whimper from the tan girl when Nabu pours liquid out of a purple bottle. Below the old layer of white cloth is a combination of red and pink burns. Some healing, some not at all.

"I cooled these bandages this time; maybe it'll stop help with the stinging." Nabu was just about to lay the new bandage on her calf when he was stopped by a smaller, softer voice.

"Can I do something?" The girl asks. I can't see this clearly but her eyes lock with Nabu's, sending him a message that he has nothing to worry about.

Nabu pulls his hands near him, keeping the bandage as I lean more into the doorframe with a curious face. I hear the brunette take a deep breath before directing her hand at her calf. Flora closes her eyes, both her hands starts glowing green like when we battled it out in Tarnen. Suddenly, the room starts to feel warmer. Round, medium sized leaves started appearing on her calf, covering the unpleasant marks. They stick to her skin instantly and the glow disappears. "They'll help with the stinging and cell repair."

Somehow the use of her magic and the breech didn't bother me or even Nabu. The rescues' magic was subdued with the dome protecting Alfea the second they entered the campus, preventing any unwanted events. Surely they all felt it, the decrease of magic.

Nabu just nods and backs up the bandage. "I'm pretty sure that's not allowed but let's see how that goes." He says earning a small smile from her. Nabu carefully grabs the tape from his little bag and secures the four leaves pressed into her skin.

"Now, I have to get those pancakes from Bloom. I'll be right back." He stands from the bed and gathers his medical pack.

"Here. Bloom asked me to bring it." I say to Nabu, notifying the pair of my presence. I stand straight from recently leaning on the doorway as I watched them. I catch Flora's concerned face by the corner of my eye. I extend my arms and Nabu reaches for the plate of pancakes and strawberries. Nabu has been one of my closest friends and he knows my intention. My wizard friend then places the plate on her nightstand and closes the door behind him.

I watch the door close beside me and I sit my bag to a wooden chair near the door. I walk closer to Flora who is busy spreading the sheet onto her exposed leg. I take a deep breath and sit down in front of her on the bed.

It feels wrong. It does. I owe her more than just delivering breakfast and I have the audacity to sit on her bed. I wonder what she's thinking. Is she afraid? Is she going to fight me? Strike an attack for vengeance? I shuffle on the bed, unsure of my next move.

"Please. It's okay." She speaks first, in a caring tone, louder than she did with Nabu. I turn my head to hers and my eyes fall into hers. I forgot how green they were. I take another second to break eye contact, to rip my head from the green gems. I resist and try to find the next most colorful thing in my view. The only thing my eyes set on in this pale room are the strawberries on the plate her nightstand. The small sliced red fruit keeps my sight entertained. I take a deep breath, trying to regroup.

I take another deep breath and try to move my gaze to her. "I'm sorry." Our mouths move similarly, apologizing in unison. We both chuckle after.

I take the opportunity and talk. "Look, We both have things to be sorry for." I find her eyes and lock. "Unfortunately for you, my apology can't just heal that." I glance to the lump of leg under the blanket.

"I'll be okay." Her face softens, looking more comfortable in the situation. This urges me to let out exhale, almost banishing the anxiety. "I'm sorry for not realizing." She adds.

My mind knows what she's talking about. I guess whoever she woke up to last night made her understand our purpose. "Everything was overwhelming that night. I couldn't process it and I just..." She cuts through my thoughts.

She shouldn't be feeling guilt. I turn my eyes back to her to see her faced down; I can tell that she's biting the inside of her lip. "Hey." I call her and her head looks at mine. Our eyes meet again and this time I don't shake from it. "What you did to us was just self defense. We understand why. I understand why."

Nothing comes out of her mouth, but I see the leftover tension from her jaw release. I adjust my sitting and let both my feet touch the floor, hoping to walk out before Techna decides to burst through the door and tells me that I'm two minutes and twelve seconds late. "Um, Stella would be here to apologize with me but she was assigned to a shift late last night. I'm sure she'll find time." I stand up and grab my bag.

"Stella?" She questions.

"Yeah. That's her name." I reply as I fix the strap on my shoulder.

"The Princess?" She asks again with more worry.

"Don't worry. She isn't mad or anything. She's fine." I say with a reassuring smile, I see her exhale and my feet head for the door.

**So how do you guys like the new chapter? I'm honestly not too proud of it but the next chapter is going to be a real interesting one. **

**please leave reviews if you guys have any feedback or questions. **

**'Til next chapter!**


	3. three: briefing

**Hello! welcome to chapter three...**

**This chapter is one of my favorites because it tells you guys about the history in this AU, Flora's trauma with the wizards and also contains an emotional Flora and Brandon scene at the end. Overall this chapter humanizes the main character which is why I had such a blast writing it.**

**Just a few warnings before you continue, the outfits I described here are outfits of the winx in season 6 (school uniforms) and there are mentions of blood in this chapter**

**Flora's POV**

There it is again. The meadow in my dreams. Tall and far mountains stood behind proudly; the sun high up in the blue sky with the white wisps of clouds; trees bordering the patch of land while clusters of flowers coat the ground like a carpet. So rich, so beautiful. In the middle of the meadow, a toddler, a girl in yellow dress is running; her brown hair flying up behind her as she took every step.

Suddenly, my vision starts to shake, blurring my reoccuring dream. I open my eyes and see Nabu sitting on my bed, waiting for me to wake. "You told me to wake you up at eight."

My eyes adjust to the bright light from the window while I bring myself up to sit. Nabu heads for the table at the corner of the room and my eyes fix on the clock in front of me and confirm the time. He walks back to the bed with his kit in hand. He was wearing a gray shirt that had the Company logo on the upper left and black pants. I've never seen him dress that formally. I lift up the blanket to reveal my heavily bandaged left calf. Slowly, he unwraps the white cloth around it, exposing my leg to the cold morning breeze.

The man with the long braid behind him spoke while he took out a new set of bandages and the purple bottle of serum. "The briefing starts half past nine." He was distracting me. Ever since I regained consciousness three days ago, Nabu's the one who greeted me every morning, sometimes with nurse Ofelia or Professor Palladium, along with that dreadful purple serum. According to the professor, the liquid in the clear bottle is to help speed up the regeneration of skin around the burn, and so far it is effective. The only downside to the serum is the strong sting it has once it seeps into the skin.

He pours it over my leg and I wince instantly. I hear Nabu's comforting voice over my sound. "You'll get to meet everyone." The stinging starts to fade like my dream moments ago. I feel the familiar constraint around my leg as Nabu packs up his kit.

I see him reach for a glass of water on the nightstand. "Thanks" I say before lifting the glass to my dry mouth.

"Can you handle yourself? I left your breakfast on the table." I nod and he moves to the door and leaves.

I manage to clean and dress myself up with my temporary disability. I put on a shirt identical to Nabu's except mine is white and I find a pair of loose black sweatpants to hide my bulky left leg. I leave my hair down and walk towards my breakfast on the table closest to the door. I look down and see the dish yesterday; pancakes. Bloom managed to drop by last night to give me a few pills and I took the opportunity to thank her for the breakfast. I guess Bloom cooked breakfast again.

I gently seat myself on the chair tucked under the table, the smell of the food motivating me to sit faster. Once I was comfortable, I take a deep breath, the sweet warm odor of the food entering my lungs. Something registers in my mind. This was only the third time I had pancakes. The second one was yesterday morning; the first one was years ago when Ogron and Anagan came home from Solaria.

_The kitchen is probably the noisiest room in the house. Even with the soundproof walls, I expect an angry Gantlos or an annoyed Duman to come through the doorway and shush us but they don't come. I continue to pray that they don't as Layla and I draw on paper with crayons on the dining table. We were peaceful… excluding the two boys playing marbles on the floor. They were screaming words at each other a few seconds after we heard a marble hit another marble._

"_Your marble clearly went over the line!" Riven starts the new round of high volume rants. "if your shooter passes the blue line, it is out. It's my turn." He continues but is overlapped by Brandon matching his loudness. Brandon was challenging him. "Oh please! You're just pissed I'm winning. That marble is on the line. Not over."_

_It wasn't always like this, but ever since Riven and Brandon started growing taller, they started fighting a lot. We keep each other company, to some extent tolerating and avoid fighting but not this morning._

"_I think Brandon's right, Riv. The shadow's passed the line but not the marble itself." I told the two boys as I refused to stand from the comfortable chair. Layla agrees._

"_I don't wanna play anymore. This game's too old for us." Riven counters. Our magenta haired friend stands up from the floor, leaving a gloating Brandon._

"_Oh come on Riv. Just admit that I'm better at playing marbles than you." Brandon follows Riven to the sink to wash his hands. _

_Riven was building up to reply with a snarky comment but Ogron's voice was louder. "I hope you're all hungry." We turn our heads to see the red headed wizard with a brown paper bag in his hand. The leader of the wizards walks to the table as Layla and I grab our crayons to tidy up the table. He sets down the bag and the warm, appetizing smell hits me immediately._

"_A little bird told me that Solaria has the best pancakes in the Magic Dimension." That's it. Pancakes._

_I feel the seat next to me move. Riven sits down and grabs the paper bag and opens the bag and distributes the four small boxes among us. I'm not going to lie; it is disappointing to see such a flat brown circle radiate that heavenly smell. Brandon then tips the bag over and then small packs of what looks to be honey and butter come out. I lean to my left and forward to see my friends pouring one of each pack onto the round dough. I try to take my time, decorating the bland circle. The first bite was heavenly. It was warm, thick and soft but crunchy, the pancake could almost melt in my mouth. It has the perfect sweetness to it, but is also cut through with the saltiness from the butter. The first thing I think about after swallowing the first bite is how the Solarians could eat anything else but this masterpiece._

My thoughts pull back to the real world, the bland room closing on me. I finish my breakfast, ready for the briefing. I reach the end of the hall and turn left and count the doors on my right. I point to the next door as the third door, stopping in front of it.

I step inside. I see the princesses Bloom and Stella chatting across and over the dark stained wood table. They look to be discussing something serious. I also see Prince Sky operating on this flat circular thing… a buzzer? It looks like a buzzer with wires spilled outside. And Timmy who's busy tapping keys on a tablet in his hands. The prince of Eraklyon greets me first.

I had no idea the Company was this prestigious of an institute to have a good number of royals as members.

"Good Morning." He says and nears me. I reply with the two words he just said before Stella's voice joins.

"Flora! Thank the gods." The sunny voice makes my head turns to the origin. Just last night the Princess of Solaria dropped by and we smoothed things out between us. Stella pulls me towards her side of the table, across Bloom. "Okay… Bloom and I were talking about giving you and your friends new wardrobes after the briefing."

"I just can't bear to see these shirts again. I mean it is good quality but wearing that every day? I'd rather have my wings burned." Stella exaggerated as she lifted the cloth covering my shoulder.

"I just need your sizes, then I'll head over to the mall right after or I can pull out some pieces from my latest collection." The Solarian shows a big grin, almost seems like she's requesting, but I haven't even said anything yet. That's when I get a sense of what they're wearing. Stella has her hair down with a plaid headband and models a light indigo ruffled skirt with a white button down and a light purple blazer. The Princess of Domino wears a pink cardigan over a cream colored button down with a gray checkered patterned skirt and a pair of patterned pink stockings. Her red hair falls into a long single braid behind her head.

I stop to think if they're serious about the question but Bloom interrupts. "Actually, that is Stella's idea. I was suggesting that it would be better if you guys got to pick your clothes." Bloom glances to Stella beside me and adds. "I mean Stella is the person you go to for this kind of thing but I think you guys should have more freedom in choosing what you want to wear." Bloom convinces me.

"Well. I appreciate this. But I'd rather decide with my friends here." I answer politely and they back away. Stella leads me to the front of the table and offers me a seat. I thank her and she moves to Bloom at the other end of the piece of wood. Things start to get quiet when I look down at the table, remembering the wooden hallways back home.

The door opens just before I get too nostalgic and reveals an old woman with gray hair, maybe in her late fifties enters the room. Her appearance is shortly followed by another older woman, this time with deep purple hair stiffed up to form a spike.

The people in the room didn't greet the two newcomers; instead Timmy asked one of them, the woman with the gray hair. "Miss Faragonda, I need your handprint to reboot the transmitter and re-connect it with Cloud Tower's."

That's all I choose to hear, not understanding a word. Wait. Cloud Tower. I've read that word in a book back home. I try to recall those days of studying and quizzing myself on the magic dimension's realms, history, royal families, landmarks, schools. School! It's the Cloud Tower, school for witches in Magix. The longer I dwell on our location, the more it seems that my guess is wrong. I wouldn't blame myself that much, I've never been to Magix, never had to study it intensively unlike Riven who got sent there a lot. I decide to ignore the name Cloud Tower and patiently wait for the minute hand reached the number six. Maybe the briefing could answer our whereabouts.

Moments pass and the room starts to fill up just a couple minutes before nine thirty. A girl with short purple hair… Techna comes in with a girl that looks about my age and has long blue hair. Both girls were dressed in the same color scheme as Bloom and Stella. Next, a woman in a large red hat enters and immediately talks to the gray haired woman earlier that Timmy called Miss Faragonda. Then, two men join the growing crowd, One is Nabu and the other is Professor Saladin I think? he was a short old man with long white hair and a staff. My mind looks for any memory of the man until Riven enters with the blue haired guy that I encountered in Tarnen behind him.

I realize that I never got his name. We talked yesterday morning… more of apologized and I didn't even know his name… remember his name rather. I do recognize his description from a book of Royals back home. I'm pretty sure he's part of a high ranking family somewhere up North. Melody maybe? Or Knightley.

Most of the people sat down in similar chairs on the other side of the table. I start counting, trying to figure out who's not here. Thirteen excluding me. Even with the number of people in the room, the pang of silence was still an evident undertone in their chatter. My observation takes me back. The quietness seemed to drag heavier when Riven sat down across me. My friend is dressed in the same shirt I am but he has brown fitted pants for bottoms.

"You okay?" I ask him. Riven and I are almost nothing alike but we somehow understand each other… maybe because we've known each other the longest. He looks around the room of people and moves his chair closer to the table before nodding at me.

"You?" He asks. And I nod back at him.

The room gets even more populated as the last batch of people enters. It's Professor Palladium with Brandon and Layla behind. All the people bring their eyes to the door to account the newcomers.

I immediately notice that we share the same designs on our shirts. They take their seats, Brandon beside me and Layla beside Riven. I focus on Layla who has her long hair down. She flashes a small smile before a loud and deep voice commands the whole room.

"Welcome to the Company of Light." It's Professor Saladin. He stood in front of us, at our end of the table. That's when I look to my right to see everyone sitting along the table except for him and Professors Faragonda and the woman she came in with earlier.

"Saladin, we agreed not to be too formal." Professor Faragonda whispers to the man, confirming his name to me.

I see Professor Saladin exhale with the words. "Very well." And he looks to the old woman with purple spiked hair.

She introduces us to everyone in the room, she's Professor Griffin, that girl is Musa, then Techna, Professor Dufour and Helia. "Just to be clear, this briefing is for our four friends; to inform them of the Company, the Wizards and our mission." The deep purple haired woman, now registering my mind as Professor Griffin stated and turned her gaze towards our general direction. I feel everyone's eyes set on us while the lights around the room dims.

"The Company of Light was created forty-nine years ago to stop dark magic and evil forces from ruining peace and harmony in the Magic Dimension. The Company was made up of the most powerful heroes from all over the dimension. They allied the forces of light and dark to maintain the good. The specific event that formed the Company was caused by the ancestral witches who were planning on taking over all the realm's governments and royal families in their quest for power." Professor Griffin continued as she swiped her hand on the buzzer Sky was fixing earlier, a hologram appeared from it showing three old women, witches. The knowledge introduced to us is new, and I'm glad that we're learning more about this company; about how they started, how they've been loyal to protecting the magic dimension but I didn't see how it related to the wizards and us.

This time Professor Saladin spoke. "Once we stored away the witches, a new threat arose. Something… Someone more determined to reach his goal. Valtor. He was an apprentice of the ancestral witches. He studied intense psychic and Zaltorian arts at the Zaltora school for Mystic Arts. He became popular for his talent in his psychic ability but he wanted more. The young wizards had an unquenchable appetite for power. He rose with stealing magical essences from others."

I sneak a peek and move my head to turn the members of the company distracted by the story and the hologram that now shows a tall structured man with light long hair and old Victorian looking clothes. He looks familiar. My thought process is interrupted as the hologram shows an abandoned city, people on the ground like they're dead.

"He caused havoc in the entire Magic Dimension. His vile agenda caused the emergence of the Dark Ages. He stole powers, essences from the realms and killed those who got in his way. Along his journey he built an army of magical beings. His army was the most powerful one the whole dimension faced. He had fairies, witches, warriors and wizards on his side. He was known as the Supreme Sorcerer; never beaten, never to be beaten." Miss Griffin shared.

"He made himself immortal. The powers they stole made them almost impossible to stop. The Company was almost useless." Professor Saladin's voice had a tremble to it; it's not long when I notice the same fearful look in almost everyone's eyes. Even Riven looked scared or at least disturbed. The Dark Age was caused by this man and his army…

"His army… they were like him, psychotic power-hungry murderers. Valtor invested in his minions; giving them the energy they steal, making them more powerful. The wizards of the black circle were part of his army." This time Miss Faragonda spoke and flashed an image of the wizards, Ogron, Anagan, Gantlos and Duman in what looks to be old Victorian armor.

This is the connection. For a second my brain saw the men as four caring individuals who raised us, showed us our potential.

"The four wizards became Valtor's generals in the war. They led exploitations for more magic and power during that time. They grew successful, became his right hand men. Eventually, Valtor gave the four of them a life of immortality to share." Miss Faragonda raised her low glasses back higher on her nose bridge as she stared at the faces on the holograms.

I sense Riven's deep exhale. We were wrong. Layla and Brandon were right, and I'm grateful that they saved us.

"Victory was fought for, lives were taken, kingdoms destroyed but we won. The council decided on banishing Valtor's empire in the Omega Dimension. Valtor, the sorcerer himself on the other hand was stripped of his immortality and killed with the sacrifice of five other Zaltorian wizards like him." Miss Faragonda swiped her hand again and revealed five men in dark cloaks dead on a circular platform.

These are the wizards? My head couldn't bring itself to see them slaughtering, but everything makes sense now. I always pulled myself to keep them clean and kind in my head that; I couldn't see of all the dark possibilities they could be. That's why they've been training us? Is that why they've put us through relentless experiments? Why they send us out on robberies? Is this why they lied about bringing us back to our families? To make a new army?

"And just five years ago, we found out that the four wizards escaped the Omega Dimension… through these." Professor Saladin swiped his hand on the hologram and it showed us, the four of us on our individual missions, some with one of the wizards. Most of the footage was taken overhead, implicating that it was taken by security cameras. I guess we weren't good at cleaning up our trail after all.

I find myself staring at a photo of myself using a spell to break a door in Melody. That mission was just a month ago. Is this what the wizards were doing? Making monsters? I look at my glowing hands in the photograph as I bite the inside of my cheek.

"For years, we've been studying the four of you, trying to figure out what your- their plan is with all the magical artifacts that you stole. We've done tons of researches and background checks to find out where the four of you come from; your families, your magical powers, but nothing comes up. It's like you never existed." Miss Griffin speaks and looks at the four of us again.

"We're going to be frank with all four of you. We thought you were like them, enhanced psychotic power-hungry beings. And we're not going to allow a reemergence of the Dark Ages. To be transparent, we planned on capturing you for information and banishing you to the Omega Dimension… but we realized that you're different." The same purple haired woman moved her hand to the hologram to show four separate clips of us hesitating. I don't recognize Riven, Layla and Brandon's clips and I focus on mine.

My corner of the hologram showed me leaving an old house, blood on my hands, tears on my cheeks. I remember that day vividly. That day, the day I killed someone.

_The familiar cloudy weather in Therissos welcome Ogron and I. Eraklyon's capital city has always been the busiest area of the realm. The city's magical concentration perfectly disguised the magical essence of the scrolls just like Ogron said._

"_He lives out east of the plaza with his apprentice. The east is quiet during this time of day so now is the best time to strike and steal the Tanema script." Ogron pulls my attention to the central plaza just across the street._

_We keep a low profile as we enter a small village. "His house emits the most energy. Find it." Ogron whispers to me, almost in a testing tone as I close my eyes and concentrate on the different magical concentrations of the area._

_I hear whispers, the trees, the leaves, the flowers; they all point to the direction of an old, dusty house. "There. I just feel a younger aura, maybe his apprentice." I point._

"_I'll wait around the back, you distract him." I feel the dark energy beside me grow as Ogron teleports himself somewhere behind the home._

_I take a deep breath and walk to the house casually. I knock on the door, and almost immediately, the door opens to reveal a young man with blonde hair and brown eyes. "Can I help you?" He stood tall but looked about my age._

"_Um… You won't remember this. I need help with these." I find my pocket slowly, hesitating to proceed. I see the young apprentice lean in from my peripheral. I take my hand out of my pocket, full of powder, and throw it to him. The yellow odorless powder knocks the blonde down. Quickly, I pull the boy inside the house and close the door. I see Ogron waiting for me to clean up and to help look for the three scrolls._

_I can feel the energy emitting from almost every stack of books; some dark some light. Something attracts me to a small box sitting on a wooden chest. It's surrounded by a strong neutral force, neither dark nor light. I move some loose papers and I see the scrolls. "They're here." I say loudly as I reach for one of the scroll's wooden crest engraved on its side. Irun my thumb over the circle with a smaller pentagon inside; little curves and lines filling each side of the shape towards the center-_

_Ogron snatches the scroll in my hand. "Give me that!" His voice makes me step back. He grabs the other two scrolls, scanning the wooden ends, the design I was observing just a second ago._

_I feel a shift of energy behind me. I look back fast enough to see an incoming ball of energy and block it. Unlike me, distracted with the scrolls, Ogron falls towards the boxes. I wait for him to move but he doesn't._

_I look to our attacker and see the same young boy. "Hey you! Who are you?" Why isn't he knocked out? The powder was supposed to knock him out for an hour and erase his memory of me._

_Before he attacks again, by instinct, I hold out my hands to command the roots to sprout from the ground. The roots grab him and his hands, restricting his magic. I look back to check on Ogron. He was still laying there, his hands still clutching tightly on the three scrolls. My right hand looks for my pocket of powder while I walk closer to the apprentice, to give him another dose, but before I can, I hear the sound of the door open, making my heart jump and beat faster._

_My head thinks of ways we can handle this. I could run out with Ogron but that would leave a messy trail… and I doubt I can with his weight. Somehow the powder doesn't work on him, maybe because of a protective spell? Surely if the apprentice has protection of the powder, then the master has too._

_Before I can run or hide, leaving Ogron clueless of the arrival of the master, a strong white ball hits me and knocks me to the hard cold floor. The master had short gray hair. He looked very old but he could still run; he ran to his apprentice who was still tied in my roots. I spot the young blonde move his head to Ogron's direction, alerting his master._

_I try to get back on my feet and stop the old man but nothing comes out. No magic. The white ball of energy blocked me of my powers. I see the old man squint at Ogron who was starting to gain balance. "I-I know you! How are you alive?" The old man conjures up another white ball, but this one looks brighter, bigger. The master took his time, enhancing the power in his hands._

_Something about the old man's tone told me that the white ball he was creating was for Ogron's death. My assumption proves itself true when I feel that familiar energy of darkness- of death, of void from the spell he was brewing. I need to stop him… but how? I can't use my powers._

_My eyes quickly scan the room and I find an old, rusted throwing knife beside a stack of books. This is it. I can't let Ogron die. Adrenaline takes over me as I reach to hold the knife and slide the master, burying the knife in the middle of his spinal cord._

My eyes wide, I freeze at the memory. My body felt numb, I was cold. I look down and stare at my hands, blood, red thick blood staining my skin and my shirt. Heck I can even taste it.

Now that I've found out about the wizards, the guilt doubles. I murdered an innocent man and saved Ogron, a devil's spawn.

Someone shakes my shoulder. Brandon. I don't even look up but the warmth in his big hand brings me back. "Hey. It's not real." I hear him whisper loudly, trying to get to me.

I blink fast, the blood disappearing as I do. But I still taste blood. I realize that I've been biting my cheek so hard, I made myself bleed. "Breathe." The calming voice inside my head emerges. I sit up properly on my chair and take in deep breaths, slowly bringing movement and heat to my body.

My eyes move up to find both Layla and Riven's sympathetic eyes on me. My gaze moves past them and I scan the room, feeling more than just my friends' eyes on me. I don't see them looking but I can tell how the whole room's aura changed.

The rest of the briefing didn't stick as strongly as the first part, with me at least. I couldn't focus, not after the reemergence of that day in Therissos. If I can recall, the rest of the briefing was all about our location and their planning methods to figure out and stop what the wizards were doing.

Turns out we're in a school in Magix, not Cloud Tower but Alfea; the College for fairies, a third of the magical schools on the planet. The elders; Miss Faragonda, Miss Griffin and Professor Saladin were part of the Company from the beginning and are now headmasters of the three schools; Alfea college for fairies, Cloud Tower school for witches and Red Fountain school for specialists. The members are students and professors from Alfea and Red Fountain who volunteered to help the elders stop the wizards.

I look at the silver full moon outside my window while drawing circles on my thick bed cover. I try to wrap my head of everything that went down today. I found out the real history of the Magic Dimension and the wizards. I also found out about the Company of Light's real intentions. The briefing flooded me with answers I've been looking for, everything makes sense now. But the new knowledge is also a curse, ultimately resulting in a crisis about my life with the wizards. Thirteen long years with them…

My head feels heavy, overwhelmed by everything that's happened in the past six days. Somehow the briefing gave me answers I've been looking for but in return gave me more questions, questions no one can answer. What happens now?

With the newly found strength in my left leg, I walk out of my cold room, hoping to shake off the heavy aura around me. Luckily, the elders agreed that it would be beneficial for all of us to remove the night watch on us. I remember Stella telling me earlier about how Brandon would spend the hours to midnight at the kitchen.

The hallway is dark, a light from the left side attracting my eyes. I find Brandon, just like Stella said, sitting on a stool, staring at the table.

"We need to talk." I stop at the doorway, asking to intrude his peace. I've never talked to him since the extraction except when I woke up the first time. For some reason, I found his gesture of comfort earlier at the briefing as an invitation to open up to him about my thoughts. Brandon and I don't share that close of a bond unlike mine with Layla, but we have a lot in common. We can both fool around and also be serious at times. He's middle ground. Funny and uplifting like Layla and can be serious like Riven. For as long as I can remember, we've been each others' rock, someone to open up to, without much judgement.

I don't see him respond, but I sit down next to him anyway. "What did you see?" I ask, still staring at the night sky. He turns his head to the left, to me, seeking a clue to comprehend my question.

"What did you see in the wizards that Riven and I didn't?" He turns his head back to the view, understanding my question.

From my peripheral, I see him smack his lips together while his head tilts down, looking at the table. He's thinking- remembering. I take a deep breath, preparing for his point of view.

"It's not what I saw inside. Not inside the wizards, not inside our home." He pauses to look at the same view I was admiring. He sighs before resuming.

"It's what I saw outside. Whenever I go out, I see families, friends, people who are just… free. I imagine us like them, you know being able to see other people, go to a real school. Live a normal life. I just tell myself that maybe everyone has their time, and that we're not there yet. That we don't deserve it yet. Like you, I held on to the hope of seeing my family again, but as time went by I just couldn't. I couldn't wait anymore." I feel a strain in Brandon's voice, but he continues.

"What about your family?" I asked him, burdened by the fact that only the manipulative wizards know who our families are and now that we've betrayed them, we'll never get to know them. The singular thought of me never getting to meet my family made my throat close, blocking my words.

"Yeah it's hard, but if there's anything that that whole decade taught me, it's that you guys are my family." His eyes meet mine with a small smile, then he looks down to his left hand, staring at his ring around his middle finger.

The gold ring is a symbol of his luck. Luck, that he was the only one out of the four of us to have a tangible connection to our families. He found the crested ring in his old clothes around seven years ago. He asked Anagan about it, what it meant and the wizard answered that it was his family ring, and that the crest is his family's crest. It's been a symbol for his family, his hope and ours too.

"At some point I didn't care if I didn't find out who they are… I just had you, Layla and Riven." His brown eyes starting to form a pool of tears; making it glimmer; there's hope in his eyes. I've never seen him like this. We've both been vulnerable to each other but this is different. Everything is different.

I see it now. My memory clears of those jolly little kids I saw playing in Melody a month ago. I see the truth… I see the past twenty years of my life slip from my hands because I was too blind with hope. I gave up my life, my freedom, hoping to see my family, but they were always there. Layla, Brandon and Riven made me laugh, made me cry, comforted, supported and understood me through the years and yet I never saw them as family. I was so blinded that I couldn't see past them as friends. I was so blinded that I stole and killed for the wizards, for the people who raised me, taught me everything I know. They taught and trained me, showed me my true potential but also lied, manipulated me, used me for their own dark purpose. My entire life has been a lie.

I put my hand over his left one, holding it. I feel the cold metal of the ring on my skin as he puts his other hand over mine. He looks back to me noticing the pair of tears that fell from my eyes. "Hey. Don't blame yourself."

"How can I not see that?" I feel my eyebrows touch involuntarily. The question isn't for Brandon. It's for me. I look at Brandon to see the same sympathetic face.

"Well the wizards had their favorites." He shrugs, trying to make me laugh and succeeding.

I lift my stool closer to his to lean on his shoulder. I find small warmth from the side of his arm as he leans his head on mine. We've never talked like this, not at least since I told him about the murder I committed. We've never talked about something so serious, something so big and beyond us.

"The night I found Sky… or Sky found me, an opportunity presented itself. I told myself that this is it. This is our chance to be free, so I took it. I'm sorry for not asking you… I should have but I wanted things to change so badly."

My mind blanks out, but I catch a glimpse of the word free. I never thought of that word to describe the situation we're at. Free?

"But this isn't freedom." I state sternly with a lower volume as a new tear runs down my cheek, then falling to his shoulder.

"I know it's not right now but it's definitely a step closer." I feel his right arm move to the back of my head, stroking my hair.

Is it a step closer? Is betraying the wizards the right direction?

He's right; it is a step in the right direction. If the briefing taught me anything today, It would be that I should be grateful for the Company for rescuing us, for Brandon and Layla rescuing us. It's definitely closer to living a normal life, excluding the fact that we are hiding from the wizards, but with the company, we've had the most freedom we never could have for the past ten years.

"Thank you. For everything." My voice barely a whisper, but he somehow manages to hear it. "You're welcome Flo."

He lifts his head from mine and I do the same. "We need to get some sleep." The brunette moves in his chair, and stands up. "We have initial evaluations tomorrow."

**So how did you guys like it? **

**I actually want to pitch an idea to you guys since I've been into reading a lot of otp prompts on tumblr and pintrest... Would you guys like a one-shot book of the Winx couples? I would imagine writing one-shots for different ships would give me a lot more motivation to write, but would also slow down my progress on rewriting the girl with a story. I can't really promise how often I would update that story if ever I do decide to create it, but since it would require less energy to write, I could update it simultaneously with this story!**

**Please feel free to leave questions, ratings and feedback.**


	4. four: evaluations

**Welcome to chapter four! **

**I just want to address why I didn't update last week. I just had a few other things on my mind, by other things I mean that I've already started working on the first one-shot for my winx one-shot story. Also, Semi-winx related, I wanted to tell you guys my tumblr page; its the same as my username here on fanfic. I wanted to handle a tumblr account just because I feel more socially active there, since I stan other shows and people. Go visit my (currently messy) page to find out more of my fandoms. **

**With that brought up, I might as well tell you guys that I'm expanding my writing horizons. WHile writng this story, I'll be doing a few side projects, one is the winx one-shot and other fanfics of other shows that I would probably put up on tumblr because thats where the fandom posts fanfic and not on this site. **

**Enough of me, this chapter is has cursing and mostly RivenxMusa... and has mentions of blood. I tried my best to describe their outfits in this one but its their training outfits in season 5 and early on season 6. More winx references; storm harpies from s2 (The black willow), crocodile man from wow s1, mer-people mutants from s5 and the army of darkness from s1**

**Flora's POV**

I can't help but look up at the high ceilings in awe. The arcs around the cylindrical room made it look bigger than it actually is. Nothing like this would be possible in Tarnen, at least space-wise. In terms of technology… we're yet to find out. The simulation room is at our disposal.

Sometime in the briefing yesterday, Layla, Brandon, Riven and I agreed to do separate evaluations. Apparently even after their years of studies on us, they never really understood what we could do and our limits, the evaluation today is to aid that. I wouldn't hold it against the Company… The powers we use outside of Tarnen were used to either stop someone or to get our hands on something we shouldn't… in other words stealing.

"Ever since we limited access to the students, it has been easier to maintain the magic it requires for every use." Professor Palladium referred to the simulation room as a whole, leading the four of us to the end of the floating platform, flexing the new improvements to the room. "And just recently, we had a group of experienced technicians fly in from Zenith to enhance the run-time of each session."

Professor Palladium looks back at us, finally noticing that we didn't understand and appreciate the improvements. "Well I'm getting ahead of myself." He said with a small laugh. "Are you ready?"

Nods exchange between us and the long haired Professor directs us to a room at the other end. Inside the room we find Headmistress Faragonda with Techna pushing buttons on what looks like the control panel. Princess Stella, Nabu and Musa stood behind them preparing for the evaluation. We stood behind the big door, separating ourselves from the others. I glance behind me, hoping to see that I'm not the only victim of this uncomfortable situation.

"Oh good you're all here." The bubbly Stella grabbed our attention with her high voice. She walked towards us, fortunately breaking the tension. She conjured a book to appear from air and held it out. "Here are your suits."

We were dressed in the same shirts and pants like yesterday, to some degree I do agree with what Stella said about it being boring. Intrigued, I looked at the book she was holding out. The book was separated into four parts, one for each of us. My eyes fall on my name 'Flora' written lazily on top of a deep purple colored tight suit with a pink vest. Further down I see pink boots with knee high socks made from the same fabric and color of the main suit. It looked very appropriate for the evaluation, though the material looked constricting and tight.

I try not to give my opinion, obviously not knowing a lot about fashion or the simulation, but from my peripheral, I see Riven's magenta bangs move back disapprovingly at his deep orange suit with brown detailing.

Stella saw it too. "What? You don't like it?" The blonde removed her small frown and started thinking. She immediately looked at Riven, her eyes ending up at his spiked hair. Before Riven could talk to express his thoughts he was cut off by the same voice. "You're right the orange clashes too much with purple in your hair."

It's at this moment when I feel a little tap on my right arm. I see Layla grinning at Riven's facial expression. I know that face. His sharp face said confused, offended but soft. I realize how different Stella and Riven are; the bubbly, bright and optimistic fairy with the dark, brooding and stubborn wizard.

"I think pink would look great on him Stell. A really bright pink." A voice emerged from behind the princess'. The light-skinned Musa advised as she put her hand on Stella's shoulder, joining the conversation. I see Riven glare strongly at the laughing fairy of music.

"I think so too." Brandon decides to join in on the teasing; bringing his hand up to his chin, earning a wide-eyed look from our magenta-haired friend.

"You're both wrong. Cool tones work better with his complexion." After a few seconds of thinking and staring at the color wheel she brought out with magic, Stella waves her hand over the book and I see Riven's suit change from orange and brown to a dark purple one with red and gray details. Riven takes a while to examine it.

"So..?" The blonde fairy extended her breath, hoping Riven would like the redesign.

"I like it." He replied calmly, nodding his head a bit.

His words were a signal to Stella. Suddenly, bright yellow magic surrounds the four of us. I look up to see Stella smiling, watching the tendrils of magic work on us. I feel my skin being wrapped in a warm but comfortable material. The yellow light disappears and I find myself in the suit from the book. I gained height, my flat shoes were replaced by heeled boots, the same color of my vest. I lift my left calf, feeling the uncomfortable weight wrapped around it. The princess proceeded to tell us how she designed the suits for the environments the simulation room was going to show us and how she considered a lot about our body conditions.

I remember learning about Stella and her interest in fashion back with Gantlos as part of learning the royals in Solaria but I never thought about how invested she is in the topic. My head recalls the short conversation I had with her and Bloom yesterday, before the meeting.

"This is beautiful." I turn around to find Layla in a strapped forest green suit that stopped at her mid-calf with a green-blue belt and matching arm guard.

"This is amazing Stella." Brandon stood behind me wearing an almost identical suit to Riven's except he was in a muted green color with white and blue-green details at the sides and limbs.

"It's not so bad." Musa stated with a smile as she lifted the purple cloth that covered Riven's arm. Stella's grin grew wider, seeing her work come to life.

"Are they suited? The simulator's ready." All our heads turn to Techna who was glued to a keypad attached to the panel.

"Yeah." Brandon and Riven walked first towards the fairy of technology, Layla and I admired our new clothes while following the two only to be stopped by the fashion police.

"Just a sec." Stella wasn't done. She hurriedly hummed, trying to think of what to do next. "I got it!" She shot up from a hunched back and used her yellow energy to tie my hair up into pigtails, leaving a bit of my front hairs behind. Layla beside me had her hair in a ponytail, her long brown curly locks trailing her. "There. Now go kick the butt out of the simulator."

A supportive smile forms on her and Musa's face as she pushes me and Layla to Techna's direction.

Just everything about that interaction put a smile on my face. Witnessing Riven being teased, being given new clothes and just the encouragement made me realize even more how the wizards deprived us of **normal**.

While nearing the two chairs that seated Headmistress Faragonda and Techna, my eyes instantly landed on a maroon book opened about halfway. I know that book like the back of my hand. It's a record book the wizards use to keep a log of the experiments and tests they perform. I take a deep breath remembering exploitations written in there.

"We noted a few details from your prior training." Techna noticed.

"Who wants to go first?" The headmistress moves her head to look at us. Shyness overtakes me and I sense movement behind me. Riven walks to the door opening to the platform earlier. I see him give the three of us a small comforting nod, assuring him his safety. Before I can return a smile, the door closes, separating him and us.

Through the glass, our friend walks to the middle of the platform. I notice small beads of sweat form on his forehead. Riven was nervous and he rarely gets nervous. "Are you okay?" Techna's voice booms into the room. In response, he holds up a thumb.

"Now don't be afraid if the platform disappears from under you." Headmistress Faragonda speaks into a microphone before looking to Professor Palladium. With a little button that the professor pushed, the platform vanished, the whole room around Riven changed.

The cylindrical room extended into a long canyon with a little stream. Riven stands at the bottom of what looks like a five hundred meter tall gorge. The canyon is much like the icy trench back home, deep and narrow. A combination of rocks, soil and roots make the walls. A small sound catches everyone's attention, the small stream nestling below Riven's feet starts to flow a bigger amount of water. Professor brings the microphone close to his mouth. "Your goal is to get to safety. Get to the top." I notice Riven's jaw unclench and for a split second, I see a small smirk form on Riven's mouth. Rocks. This is his specialty; he's got this.

**Riven's POV**

I already feel sweat form in my palms from the tight gloves Stella gave me, but the change of scenery attracts my attention away from it. A narrow gorge materializes my surroundings once the floating platform disappears. The Company of Light's technology looks really promising.

My body shoots up with the cold water around my feet, a small stream covers the bottom of the mass of land. I focused my attention on the rising volume of the water while the voice from the speakers forced a small smirk. This is it? I don't even get to give them a show? This doesn't even feel thrilling. The bright side, the faster I finish this, the faster I can get out of this suit. A simple levitation spell will get me up there.

My eyes fix on the sunlight peeking up top as I prepare my stance for flight. I feel the water wrap around my ankles. I channel my energy, feeling it move through my hands and feet. I look down and see the familiar shade of purple glow from my limbs. My powers propel me about three meters up before a jolt of electricity pushes me down to the water-filled floor of the Canyon.

I recover, crouching quickly and find eight storm harpies staring at me like prey. Welcome to the show ladies and gentlemen.

These storm harpies look slightly smaller than the ones I've trained with back in the past. Though I've only been put inside a cage with storm harpies twice with the wizards, I'm very familiar with their pattern and energy magnitude. Their attacks aren't that strong but their wings compensate with speed, agility and endurance. Besides those qualities, my brain only recalls one other thing about them; their annoying bird calls.

My mouth forms another smirk as I blast two harpies into the rock walls in front of me, earning me a loud scream from the creatures. As soon as the flying pair hit the dusty wall, rocks form around their bodies, trapping them. Six left. I guide another blast to another flying harpy, this time on my left, but the targeted humanoid blasts an attack, countering the one I just made.

I try a new strategy. I hold my right hand out to the wall behind me, pulling out a big heavy boulder. I direct the piece of earth to a nearby storm harpy. It attempts to fly upward but ends up crushing part of its wing. Five more.

I feel the water reach my knees. I conjure rocks to form below me, lifting me from the pool of water. My eyes look up just in time as I manage a quick shield from a new attack of a harpy. I bring down the shield, but suddenly a harpy flies from behind me, catapulting me into the air in a series of flips and landing on my back ten meters from my little rock island. With the impact, I choke on the splashing water. My body rushes me to my feet, emerging from the pool. My spiked hair falls to the right side of my face, feeling a weird sting. My body shivers, feeling my suit hug me tighter with the moisture.

I push through the discomfort, eyeing the five harpies. They start channeling energy and direct their attack to the wall behind me. What are they doing? I followed their attack with my eyes as it hit the wall, causing a slight vibration through the floor of the canyon. The next second, rocks and soil come falling, threatening to trap me.

I gather energy in my hands. I watch the different sized rocks fall straight towards me. My hands move up, anticipating the rocks. My energy wraps around the rocks and I grunt with the heaviness but with the flick of my wrists, I lead the pieces of earth to the storm harpies.

Before the dust settles, I decide to fly up higher, closer to the top. I perform the same levitation spell, lifting me about halfway to the land above. I hear small bird calls below me and with instinct, I force my head to look down and the view makes my eyes widen; five harpies chasing me up.

While focusing on my flight, my left hand produces a heavy rock and I throw it immediately at the group of humanoids. Unfortunately, It only brings down one of them, the other four closer to my tail.

"Boy these guys are persistent." I repeat the same spell, this time making a rock about five times bigger than the first one that appeared. As it falls down, I hit it with a purple blast, making it explode and scatter dust and small rocks to the harpies below.

I hover in the air, waiting for the determined harpies. I try to listen for any bird calls, indicating if any of them were still after me. None.

Unimpressed, I start to fly up and I already start to think of haughty comments to call their test for me. Suddenly out of the grey cloud of dust below me, an electric attack shoots out and hits me, making me break the connection between my harnessed energy. Without magic to hold me up, I freefall deeper into the gorge. I look down to see my landing pad, just water and rocks but I spot a harpy hovering, waiting for me to fall.

With all the power in my body, I shift myself in mid-air to fall directly onto the harpy's back… And I do. A loud shriek comes from the harpy as it feels my weight. I smirk to myself, glad that my plan worked out. I sit on the creature's back, or at least try to with its movement, waiting for the energy surge to come back and fill my bloodstream.

I feel the power again. I spread my hands to the harpy's wings and slowly, the feathery limbs become heavy slabs of rock. Without its wings to hold it in the air, the humanoid falls down, bringing me with it. I conjure up another levitation spell and bring myself up to the top of the canyon.

I reach the grassy top of the gorge. I look around the new environment but almost instantly, the floor shifts and returns to the floating platform earlier. I hope I put up a good show.

**Musa's POV**

"Rock, Scissors, Paper, shoot!" Bloom and I said in unison as we bounced our hands. The red head held out paper and I held out a rock.

"Ha!" Bloom shouts instantly at the sight of my defeat as I groan. I hear Stella and Techna laugh in the background. We all gathered in Bloom's room; Stella, Techna and I were taking a break from our research shift concerning the company, while Bloom just got back from Professor Wizgiz's class. We were deciding who gets to bring new clothes and play doctor to which of the four rescues.

"Ugh! I hate this. I want a rematch!" I whine as Bloom walks towards the stack of boxes near her bed, leaving my miserable self in the middle of the room. "I just can't stand the dude."

Bloom stifles her laugh and tries to give some kind of support. "Muse, no one can, but you're the one who can stand him the longest."

"Bloom's right. The other week, Sky, Nabu and I bet on who could tolerate Riven the longest and you're leading the racers with eighteen minutes. Helia's a close second at sixteen and made me lose ten bucks." Stella's shared, earning laughs from all three of us.

"You still remember what Nurse Ofelia said?" Techna speaks, reminding me of our little encounter with the school nurse, saying that she got orders to give us kits to make sure the four rescues were okay after their evaluations.

"Yeah." I reply irritated just by the thought of the arrogant bastard.

"So… Are we going to talk about their evaluations?" Bloom initiates the gossip session.

"They were all great, but I was most surprised by Brandon." Stella spoke as she took a seat on Bloom's office chair and crossed her legs. "I just didn't expect superspeed could be so… versatile."

"Yeah." Bloom agrees. "I'd love to replay that part where he jumped over the wires and somersaulted to the other edge of the platform just to avoid those crocodile men."

"I'd be willing to bet that Anagan taught him to do that." I joined in with my opinion as I walked over to Bloom's bay window.

"What about Layla? She slayed the hell out of those weird looking mermen." Techna diverted the conversation to the black girl's evaluation with a loud volume of excitement. In Layla's evaluation, the girl had to retrieve a gold trident that was propped onto an underwater pillar guarded by these awful looking mer-people.

"Oh! The way she manipulated the water around her was so mesmerizing it was like one of those slime videos on youtube" Stella said, fantasizing about the breathtaking wave show we witnessed earlier.

"True." I nod in agreement. "She moves so fast in water, it almost looks like she's flying."

"I wonder where in Tarnen she gets her swimming lessons." Stella asked the three of us, obviously not expecting an answer.

"Come on guys! Flora." The red-headed girl spoke in a 'duh' tone. "Her energy rates and power intensity were off the charts." She added with a smile.

"Oh yeah. Remind me not to get on her bad side." I kid, my brain flashing back to Flora's green figure defeat those creepy crawlies I recognize from a visit in Downland.

"I seriously need to talk to her about the shade of green her energy has. I've been so curious since the extraction." Stella jokes, further lightening the atmosphere.

It's been a while since we could hang out like this. We've all been busy with a lot of tasks lately; sometimes Stella and Bloom's royal duties, sometimes it's academics like make-up exams or responsibilities with the Company of Light. The last time we all chilled like this was two weeks before the extraction. I remember that day vividly; it was a saturday in Domino. It was Bloom's sister Daphne's welcome party and the party itself was quite dull so the four of us snuck out to the royal gardens with some food and booze and caught up.

"Riven?" Techna asked us, waiting for a stream of opinions.

"Oh when he straddled that storm harpy!" Stella squealed with excitement. I see Bloom nod and laugh.

"Gotta admit, he was pretty entertaining." Bloom tried to uplift my spirit, seeing me roll my eyes at the mention of his name.

"True but that doesn't give him an excuse to be such an ass." I roll my eyes again, remembering our first interaction.

_I was walking down the hall, humming the chords I put together the night before. I just came back from Cloud Tower after escorting Layla and Brandon with Professor Dufour. I fish out my keys from my pocket once in front of the stained glass door. _

_Once I entered the Company's base, Bloom's pancakes I had earlier flashed back into my memory. I smile at the thought, remembering that we had a kitchen at our disposal and that we were not forced to eat in the Alfea cafeteria where they serve the same dishes over and over again._

_Deciding to read up on some of the materials we got back from Tarnen, I head for the meeting room at the end of the hall. While walking down the white halls, I hear my footsteps echo… The acoustics are great here. I hum the chords louder, entertained by the notes bouncing off on the walls and repeating. I enjoy my moment of peace a little longer as I stop in front of a door. _

_That's when a tall figure passes me, coming out from the door I stopped in front of. Confusion fills my face as I realize the name of the figure. The magenta hair gave it away, making my feet pace to catch up with the boy. _

"_Hey! You're not supposed to be out of your room." I block his body from moving forward. _

"_And I'm not supposed to be out of our base in Tarnen, but we don't always get what we want, right?" A snarky comment comes out of his mouth, not even looking at me, before he walks further, avoiding my body. _

_My body stands still with his sarcastic reply. "What the- Excuse me?" I raise the volume of my voice as I turn my head over my shoulder to see if he stopped, but he didn't. _

"_Hey! I'll stop you right here-" I pace faster down the hall and stop right in front of him, this time my feet farther apart. That's when I noticed our height difference, he was a half a foot taller than me._

_He held out his pointer finger to my chest."Oh that's right you work here. I need help, I need to get to Brandon's room." For the first time, he made eye contact when he spoke. His purple eyes looked into mine. His tone was bossy and oblivious of the fact that he just cut me off and insulted me. _

"_Huh." I scoff at his personality. Sky warned me about Riven's arrogance and egotism. "First of all, Brandon isn't here, and before you ask, it's none of your business where he is."_

"_W-" He tried to interject but I pushed him over. I notice his jaw clench with my words but I continue. _

"_Second, you're not allowed to be out of your room, at least not yet. And third…" I trail thinking back to his reply earlier. "I do work here so the least you could do is follow what I'm saying and look me in the eye when you're talking." I give a sarcastic smile and give him a glare. _

_He licks his lips and unclenches his jaw. "Gods, I didn't know fairies could be such grinches." He rolls his eyes with distaste and turns back to the direction of his room. _

"_An apology would be nice." I make his stop in his tracks. His stubborn head turns to look at me, still in the same position. _

"_Why would I need to apologize?" A condescending sneer appeared on his face as he sauntered to me. _

"_I don't know… Your eyes literally just rolled at me two seconds ago. You cut me off and insulted me… I don't know, maybe for the disrespect." I find his purple eyes again, closer to me than I anticipated, hoping to transfer my anger to his guilt, even with my sarcasm._

_He leans his body down and brings his hand up to my chin. "Well then, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." The contact of his finger below my chin and mocking tone made me still. _

"_Time to go girls." Techna said before using her hands to help her stand from Bloom's bean bag chair. Beside the bean bag, there sat another stack of brown boxes labelled 'Layla'. _

Three large boxes sat on top of each other on my arms. My hands currently unavailable, I use my back to push open the wooden door, causing a little imbalance in my left heel. Based solely from the heaviness, I can tell Stella had too much fun picking clothes for Riven. I enter the room, the door closing automatically and I set down the boxes on a nearby table.

I stop humming the song that's been in my head to move my vision across the room, looking for a face with magenta hair. "Hey Riven? Nurse Ofelia sent me to-"

I stop mid-sentence to see a bare-chested Riven standing in front of his closet, staring at me. I feel my cheeks heat up and sweat form on my forehead. My eyes involuntarily widened as he stood there, his lower body wrapped in a white towel while his toned chest and biceps glistened with water in the afternoon light. My mind goes blank for a second. My eyes travel the image in front of me and they finally stop at his face and notice that his usually spiked hair fell wet on the right side of his face. My body freezes, not knowing what to do, I feel my jaw drop a little. For once I have no words.

"Uh… Musa…" He clears his throat, his voice snaps me out of my frozen state. I breathe quickly, trying to explain my brief moment of drift. I lick my lips, trying to force words out, but none come out. I feel more blood rush to my cheeks and I give up. I walk to the door to give him his privacy but it was more for my benefit.

I close the door behind me, the empty hallway greeting me with warmth. Leaning against the wall next to his door, I take another deep breath and exhale through my mouth to organize my thoughts and to somehow put movement back in my bones. I bring my forearm to my forehead, clearing it of the small drops of perspiration.

I recover after a few seconds, ready to blame him for the accident. "I don't know how doors work in Tarnen but people use locks when they change." I state loudly through the door, hoping to cleanse the awkward moment earlier.

"People also knock before they enter." His voice comes through the door with equal volume. "You can come in now." I open the door, half my body inside the room, ready to retaliate after his reply. He was standing in the same spot as earlier, this time dressed in the Company uniform, his hands crossed in front of him.

"Okay first of all, your door doesn't have a 'Do Not Disturb, I'm Showering' sign." I state after I feel the door click behind me. I cautiously walk closer to him, trying to emphasize my point. "And second, I couldn't knock because of those boxes." I tilt my head to the table, copying his pose.

"Okay that thing you do… Where you list off the things you want to say before making a snarky comment at the end… Can you stop it? It's getting old. Layla does the same thing to me." He says as he brings us his white towel to his head, shaking it on his hair.

"Sure. I will, only when you stop being such an bitch." I reply, hopefully giving him a hint that I'm still mad at him for not locking the door.

"What are those boxes anyway?" I hear the subtle shrug in his tone. He knows he's wrong. I want to push him to apologize but I know better than to ask him for an apology and provoke his ego even more. I answer his question instead.

I loosen my shoulders, freeing my arms from my chest. "The one on top is shoes and accessories. The one under is tops, the other for bottoms." I reply normally. "Stella said she would have-"

"Hm. Is that everything?" He turns his broad, uninterested back to me to face the window and brings back the towel to his head. Did he just cut me off? I raise my eyebrow with silence. "You said Nurse Ofelia sent you to do what?" I could almost smell the arrogance and pride in his voice.

"She sent me to treat that line on your face but I don't think I can fix forehead wrinkles." I say sarcastically, tilting my head with a smile. In my head I dropped a microphone and walked out but…

I caught sight of his forehead wrinkle intensifying while his eyes narrowed with my insult. He brings his hand up to his right cheek, slowly bringing it down to see the blood on his fingers. I close my eyes to take a deep breath; enough of the child's play. He's bleeding Musa, come on.

I soften my voice, backing down from the short banter. "I can find someone to treat it if you don't want me to." I head for the door, anticipating his agreement. "I'm sure Bloom can-"

"No it's okay." I turn my head to see him facing me with a defeated face. "You're okay." He says with a decreased volume.

I lower my head and smile to myself before facing him again. I head for his bathroom, to collect a wet cloth to clean up the red on his cheek. While the water runs through the cloth in the sink, I glance in his direction, only to turn back quickly, to find that he was doing the same. I come back to his room and find him sitting on his bed, waiting for me. Somehow, the aura of the room was calm. Maybe it's the silence.

I kneel on his bed, in front of him, to get a better look at his cut. Slowly, I bring my hand to move his hair out of the way. I notice his jaw clench with my touch and his body tense. The cut is deep… or at least I think it is. "You noticed this just now?" I bring myself to speak, starting a new conversation.

"I-I felt a sting earlier; thought it was just a scratch." He replied with a laid-back tone.

He turns his head slightly with the contact of the cloth on his face. I disregard his discomfort, continuing to pat the wound. Slowly, the dark red color on his cheek was now gone and left a red line over his cheekbone.

"You did great in the simulation room." I complimented, hoping to give him some kind of feeling of victory over the wound.

"Hm… I hope you were entertained." He answers back, the tone of arrogance back in his voice. I sense his face muscles make a smug smile.

"Show-off." I hear myself murmur.

**Thanks for reading! **

**I just realized while writing chapter seven of this story that I never really told you guys how old the 'enhanced' are and how old they were when they were taken, so here it goes; Riven is 22 and was taken at age five (spent 17 years with the wizards: Brandon is next, he's 20 and was taken at age 8 (12 years with the wizards); Flora is also 20 and was taken at age seven (13 years with the wizards) and Layla is the youngest at 19, she was taken at age 9 (10 years with the wizards).**

**Rates and Reviews are greatly encouraged! **


	5. five: researching

**Hi guys! Welcome to chapter five! Please leave feedback! It really helps me.**

**Theres a lot of WInx references here so... outfits are from season 1 except for Layla and Nabu's, theres guru, the professor from the beginning of season 6. Mentions of blood, curses and** **inaccurate biology and science. **

**This doesn't have a lot of romance, but it's EXTREMELY important for the plot**

**Layla's POV**

"Do you have a list?" Brandon asks the big group of people gathered around a huge table as he sets his fingers on a pile of unorganized papers. If you knew Brandon, you would have heard the hint of sarcasm in his voice.

After a two-day break after the initial evaluations, Brandon, Flora, Riven and I have been asked to look over the company's collected information on the wizards. This was part of our arrangement, to help figure out what the wizards are doing.

Right after lunch, the four of us, now with new wardrobes thanks to the princess of Solaria, with Bloom and Nabu, headed to the meeting room to join Timmy. The room looked nothing like it did four days ago at the briefing. It looked more like a library that a tornado tore apart. The windowless room appeared to be darker. The chairs were stacked along the walls, probably to give better access to other parts of the table which had books and papers scattered across; boxes on the floor; tablets and computers opened for easy access. The only familiar thing I saw was the hologram device that sat on the table, this time in the middle for everyone to view.

I set the heels of my hands at the edge of the table, gripping it before Bloom, wearing a blue crop top and blue bell-bottom pants, leaned over the table and looked to the end where an orange-haired specialist sat in his chair. He had a tablet in his hand and an opened book in front of him.

"Timmy?" She asked, standing in between Nabu and Brandon. On the other side of the wooden table, I stood with Riven and Flora.

Immediately, Timmy straightens his back, setting down his gadget, ready to for the group discussion. "Um… No."

The room fills with a confused silence, hoping to get more information from the techno-genius. The specialist sighed. "Techna and I have been trying to formulate all the possible plans the wizards could have, and we still don't have one. We thought gaining data from Tarnen would make it easier but it just made it harder to figure out what they're doing. The pieces just don't fit."

Timmy pushes his glasses up his nose and crosses his arms. "One thing we know for sure is that the wizards aren't building an army." He's wearing a green top with orange bands over a long sleeved sweater at the sleeves and a pair of jeans.

"Well that wouldn't really make them 'most creative villain' of the century, would it?" Riven inserts the comment as he looks over a piece of paper, referring to Valtor's own army of enhanced magical beings.

I peer over to see the piece of paper. It has Riven's name on it with other details like his powers, blood type, height… I look to the stack of papers in front of him, assuming that that's where he got it. My eyes glue to my file, and Flora's and Brandon's. My head still couldn't wrap around the Company's 'stalking' for the past five years.

"But what are the powers and magical essences they steal for?" Bloom's voice makes me look up from the papers. I take a deep breath preparing myself for a brainstorming session.

"Do you know?" Nabu looks at me across the table with his deep purple irises. He was in a purple button up, his hair into two short braids at the sides of his face.

"No. We've always asked what it's for, what they do to it but they don't say anything." Brandon answers his question with a shrug. "They don't use it on us or themselves. It's just stored in the archive room." Flora supports.

"The room secured with the spell?" Nabu asked, eyebrows furrowed. I reply with a small nod visible to everyone.

"So… we have nothing?" I hear Riven's cold voice cut through the room with disgust. He's not lying.

"-Yet. But that's why you're here. Maybe you know something that isn't on these documents or files." Timmy gestured to the mess on the table.

Brandon focused his vision on the three of us across the wood. He takes a deep breath of defeat and tucks pushes his hands in his pockets. "I'm pretty sure we're all as clueless as you are." Brandon speaks for us.

My eyes scan the piles of books and papers. "Okay. I guess we better start reading." I say, overwhelmed by the number of reading materials, not just in print but also ones on the screens. I hear a low groan from Riven, as expected. He was never a fan of books, or reading in general.

The room becomes silent, like taking in a deep breath of disappointment. I see Brandon join Nabu in pulling chairs from its stack along the wall, passing around the chairs for us to sit on. Slowly, everyone gets comfortable, ready to study the materials on the table.

Timmy who's on my left sits back on his chair, the tablet in his hands. On the other side of the table, Brandon starts to go through the random pieces of paper all over the table. Bloom and Nabu take a tablet like Timmy. My eyes scan the messy table again, figuring where to start my study. My eyes lead me to a little handbook titled 'Foreign Power Absorption; the Supreme Sorcerer's weapon'.

I see Flora and Riven each grab a stapled bunch of papers labeled with 'Anagan' and 'Duman" respectively. I wait for a negative reaction, trying to put myself in their shoes… Suddenly our father figures became criminals. It's not that hard to look at them differently considering that they haven't really been ideal parental figures, but the truth has been like bombs for the past week, exploding on us unexpectedly.

Before I can even flip open the cover of the book. Riven's voice addresses everyone around the table, making us stop our tasks. "Just a quick question; what happens when we end or stop the wizards' plan? What'll happen to them?" I notice his indigo eyes glance down at Duman's name on the paper, then move to glance at me quickly.

"Well… If all things go right for us, They'll be put up for trial. The council will decide what punishment they get." Timmy explains, referring to the council of royals; where the realms' royalties and leaders gather to discuss dimension-wide matters. From my position I see my two brunette friends in discomfort, Flora shifting her stiff body in her chair, Brandon bringing his hands across his chest with unease. Then there's Riven, standing still, unbothered.

"But don't worry. Mercy is a valued principle in the council. Death is off the table" Princess Bloom vouches for the royals, hoping to comfort our-not-so-collective fear of losing the wizards. That's the exact opposite of what we want; What Riven and I want.

_I had just finished checking up on Brandon and his slight back ache after the evaluations yesterday, when I heard a strong chord of music play further down the hallway. The white hall was empty, the afternoon light coating it in a warm brightness. I walk towards the sound, I feel the corners of my mouth turn upwards as I stop in front of Riven's door. The door unlocked, I decided to drop in. He's facing the window, his back turned away from me with a guitar in his hands. _

"_I'm glad you're picking up a new hobby." I alert him of myself as I step inside. He doesn't turn, but puts down his guitar on his bed, beside him._

"_Well… if you'd call irritating everyone who comes through that door a hobby, then I have two." His snarky comment made me think._

_It's no secret that Riven's the hardest nut to crack out of us four. He's stubborn, antsy and usually egotistic, combine all of that with his mood swings, and the stress with the wizards, then it's going to be even harder to make him loosen his hard exterior. I've heard from people like Sky, who come every once in a while to check on him, that he can be a real bitch to anyone who comes through his doorway._

"_Okay." I sigh before sitting on his bed. "You dislike them, but maybe if you could see that they're just-" I try explaining, but he intervenes._

"_I don't… don't like them. Okay?" The magenta-haired boy earns a confusing face from me. I see his jaw tighten. "I don't like how this is going. How they're handling this."_

_Again, I reply with silence and a confused face, urging him to expand his thoughts for me. He turns his head to me. "This is Tarnen all over again."_

_Now I see where this is where this is going. The similarities are pretty evident; the trainings, testings… the part where we can't go outside. I know because I've had this conversation with myself over and over and over again. _

"_You're right. I don't like this either. I want all the drama done. I want to go out, see the worlds." I reply with my realization. He looks to me to check if I'm serious._

"_I know that, we all do and deserve to. And I'm really grateful to you and Brandon for getting us on the company's side; to see the truth. I'm really trying to be patient with the company's plans but I don't want to wait too long because of their agendas. I want my freedom, now if possible." Riven's voice catches volume, emphasizing his point._

_I feel the same. I don't want to keep relying on this company for their orders on how to defeat the wizards, who know what other agendas they have. To point out extremes, the company is useless right now. The only leverage they have is us… which leads us back to the four of us being used as pawns. I want to take action, I want to collect my freedom. The only way to do that is to get rid of Ogron, Duman, Gantlos and Anagan._

_The road the Company of Light is paving for us is the high road, where there's extensive research on us and the wizards, training, strategic plans and mercy. The road I want to take is different, the low one and I know I'm not alone._

_The aura in the air changes; the short silence weighing down on our conversation. Something tells me that Riven and I are on the same page; that we're on the same path of redemption and revenge._

"_I want to kill them." I say sternly, preparing for my next words. "That's why I want to kill the wizards. To get all of this done and we can start living in peace. I don't care if we figure out their plan before or not." From his side, I see Riven's mouth form a smirk, agreeing to my proposal._

"_I'm done being bossed around. I want to make my own decisions and as my first… I want to kill them." His jaw tightens again while his voice gets deeper, like the conversation._

"_We're missing the part where they're part immortal." I lighten._

"_A life of immortality was shared between four of them. I'm pretty sure they're not going to live forever. Everyone has their limits."_

That conversation with Riven cleared up my goals. The wizards are murderers who escaped exile and deserve to die. Who better to kill them than the kids they abducted to be their own henchmen?

Riven and I haven't spoken privately from then on, but ever since that enlightening exchange; I can feel clarity between us about what we ultimately want. Surely Flora and Brandon would disagree with our murderous intentions, with their 'untouched' principles, and it's not like we'd have the chance to kill the wizards.

It's been a productive three hours since the start of our researching. Things look slightly different, Bloom and Brandon shared a tablet, occasionally shifting their eyes to a book in the red-head's hands. Flora was now reading the book I had finished while Riven was pacing around the room, a small book on his hands. Nabu's now seated next to me. He was pouring out drinks for everyone.

"Can I offer you a drink?" My eyes look up from a folder I was half-way done reading to find the young wizard holding out a glass with water. I glance higher, seeing his eyes locked on mine. I quickly glance down to the beverage, bringing my hand up to take it from him. I flash him a small smile as thanks. I swear to the gods, I feel like Nabu can see into my eyes and know what I'm thinking. His eyes already looked deep into mine on a number of occasions since we've met.

"What's this?" Brandon's voice makes everyone stop to look at him. His body was directed to Timmy, maybe the question was for him. Regardless, everyone was now invested in what that tablet had.

**Hi guys! I figured not everyone reads the authors notes in front so i decided to put one in the middle because i was really disappointed the last time I updated. **

**I didn't get reviews for the last chapter; it doesn't seem like a big deal but I literally feed off of your comments. I see so many people read my stories but NEVER give feedback. FANFICTION IS NOT FREE, WRITERS LIKE ME WORK SO HARD ON STORIES, the least the readers could do is to give feedback, follow or favorite : It just feels like I'm being robbed and nobody is validating my work and I've worked so hard on this series. **

Timmy walks to Bloom and Brandon. The tech genius narrows his eyes and proceeds to swipe up on the tablet, the image showing up on the now activated hologram device. In the center of the table, floated what looked to be a very confusing flowchart.

The green lights of the hologram displayed boxes with words too little to see. The boxes had different colors like the lines that connected some of them. Everyone in the meeting room had dropped their reading materials to indulge the image.

"That's a visual representation of all the information we have so far. The lines are to connect the information to present a theory or a possible plan." Timmy explains as his hands draw circles on the tablet, making the hologram spin for everyone to see properly.

A little while after admiring the effort and studying the information, Flora speaks up pointing to two lonely looking text boxes on the corner. "What's that?"

"That is information we can't connect with anything, but Techna and I think it's really important." The room is idle, waiting for Timmy to tell us about the two lonely boxes. "Okay." Everyone settles on their chairs, ready for the collective learning.

"In the dark ages, Valtor would give energy to his army, either doubling their magic capacity or giving them new abilities. We all know that the four of you have only one category of power. Layla has the power from the waves of the ocean; Riven's is earth, rock much like geokinesis; Brandon is speed faster than light; and Flora's is nature." The orange haired specialist looks at each of us when he mentions our name. He begins to walk toward the edge of the table.

"When you look at it, it's a funny combination. No offense, but if the wizards wanted a four-piece army then you would think they would go for the big guns like the dragon flame or the harness the energy of the water stars, but they didn't so that makes the powers you have special, I just don't know why. That's the first box."

Timmy swipes up again to the hologram. The flowchart earlier disappears and displays an image of a double helix with a base pair not paired. "The second… When I examined your blood, I confirmed that the wizards genetically engineered your DNA to intensify your power. But one thing I found that I wasn't expecting is a broken component in your magic genes."

"Broken? What do you mean?" Bloom asks as the unbounded pair caught everyone's eyes.

"You know how magic is light and dark, but not necessarily good or bad. The broken gene is neutral .I can't describe it well but It's similar to a fairy's broken gene to be able to bond to a pixie, like that gene is destined to bond with another energy or power to activate it, usually unlocking more power."

"You're saying the wizards built the gene for them?" Nabu asks this time, seeing that the four rescues were silent with the new discovery.

"Yes, the records of their experiments back that up. It has a lot of mentions of mitochondrial DNA, manipulating the chromosomes to recognize a certain magical DNA sequence and the likes." Timmy's words start to blur.

"Tim, English." Nabu speaks for all of us.

Timmy presses a button on his tablet, making the DNA structure disappear from the center of the table. "Doesn't matter because that's where that road ends…" Timmy's voice is overpowered by the opening of the heavy door.

"Then let's build a new road." Headmaster Saladin walks in with Prince Sky behind him. The blonde royal guided the white-haired man with a staff in one hand, an active magical bubble in the other.

The prince of Eraklyon headed straight for the princess of Domino with a hug while Nabu approached and guided the headmaster to a chair next to Flora. My eyes set immediately to the white protective spell around a what looks like an old book

"Headmaster. Is there any news?" Timmy asked with interest in the magic bubble in Saladin's hands.

"Yes. Both good and bad." The wise man set down the white bubble, as everyone gathered, the table still in the center.

"Good news first, I think this folio contains the answers to all your problems." The headmaster points to the magic in front of him. Now, everyone looks more intrigued by the artifact.

"Headmistress Griffin found this in the archive room in Tarnen. She took it, hoping that it was another stolen artifact that we had to return to the realms. But when we examined it with the other powers and artifacts that we found, we found out that this book has no record of existence in the magic dimension. That it doesn't belong in any realm."

"Meaning that that book's actual owners are the wizards; which gives us reason to believe that their plans are written down here." Prince Sky's authoritative voice echoes inside the room. His words lighten the vibe of the room, giving us hope after the three long hours of research.

"Now for the bad news…" Saladin's voice trails as the barrier around the folio disappears. The folio has dark brown leather as the cover with what looks like very few pages inside. "We found out that it has missing pages… three to be exact based on the ripped paper but really that's the least of our problems now."

The old man continues. "The text inside is written in a very detailed language we don't recognize. Another challenging part is that the language is protected with a dark spell we can't undo, hence the protective bubble." The Headmaster pauses. "From what we can tell the spell is supposed to keep this language secret… Techna has tried to take pictures of it with all the photographic devices she has but the pictures turn out blank. Like the language itself doesn't want to be known."

"Headmistress Faragonda and Techna have already scanned the web for the similar symbols on the pages but none match." Sky looks and stops Timmy from tapping on his gadget. "It's useless."

"We have found a possible alternative… Professor Palladium is close friends with a language expert professor in Lynphea College. I've asked my boy, Helia, to copy this symbol engraved on the front to bring to Lynphea and show Palladium's friend. They should be back by now with the professor."

I squinted my eyes to see the symbol the headmaster was pointing out. In the center of the cover was a big circle; inside is a pentagon, it's points on the circle. The five sided polygon was divided into five triangles with very intricate designs in each sector. I almost fall in a trance with the artwork admiring each triangle but Flora's hands move in my view.

"I've seen this before." Flora's soft voice was heard by everyone. I see her eyes, wide and still staring at the folio as her hands moved slowly to touch it.

"Go ahead." Headmaster Saladin grants the brunette permission to touch the folio. Her hands travel the circle as her eyes studied the patterns inside the triangles.

"Three years ago I stole three scrolls from Therisoss." Flora's eyes move up and meet Prince Sky's. Therisoss… The capital of Eraklyon. Wait. That was the day she killed a master wizard in Ogron's honor.

My face automatically shifts to a sympathetic look, knowing that she hates remembering that traumatic day. I see Brandon and Riven do the same with concern for our friend.

Flora swallows and turns her gaze back to the folio in her hands. "The wood ends of the scrolls had this engraved. It even has dark energy around it."

"Do you know what it's called?" Nabu asked gently, observing the caution in the topic.

"I think the symbols are… Tanema." Flora's voice increases volume with the name of the secret language.

Immediately, I see Timmy from the corner of my eye, tap on his gadget only with disappointment to greet him. "There's nothing on Tanema on the web. I even entered it on both Alfea and Cloud Tower's magical archive databases… still nothing."

All heads turn back to Flora. "I'm sure it's Tanema. I don't know the history behind it but I know it's real." Her voice pleads to be believed in. That's when the meeting room doors open again to reveal a tall white haired man with a white beard dressed in green and brown with a wooden staff; behind the unfamiliar man, stood Professor Palladium with Helia.

"The girl is right." The stranger said, stopping beside Flora to look at the book.

"Everyone, this is Professor Guru from Lynphea College. He teaches strategic fighting, natural weaponry and infrequent languages, dialects and symbols." Professor Palladium introduces the man to everyone around the crowded table.

"It's an honor Professor." Headmaster Saladin nods as everyone adjusts for the three newcomers. Palladium and Guru stand next to the Headmaster and Helia stands next to Sky on the other side.

"Really the honor is mine, to help such a dedicated Company with your goals." Professor Guru bows his head lower, holding tightly on his staff. The headmaster and the new professor look quite alike with the long white hair and staff…

They get the formalities over with and return to the matter. "That is indeed Tanema symbols. It's not a language, it is not spoken but only written. Unfortunately I don't know it. I only know it's history and how you can possibly translate it…"

"From what I know Tanema is one of the few shielded writing systems to exist. Shielded; meaning it has it's own magic signature to protect it. If I remember correctly, Tanema was primarily used in the west region by high ranking magical beings to protect confidential texts. When the Ancestral Witches rose to power, they burned a lot of magical scripts including most texts with Tanema symbols." The professor shares his knowledge.

"Now how do we translate it?" Professor Palladium leans to ask.

"Scripts like these can only be translated through other ancient texts which I'm sure is possible in the Vanikoro cave on Earth."

"I guess we're going to Earth." Prince Sky announces.

"Now, is everyone here?" Headmistress Griffin asks the now very crowded meeting room, to be answered by a thumbs up from Techna who was just busy counting.

Right after Professor Guru gave us information on Tanema symbols, we were dismissed for the rest of the afternoon, but right after dinner we were called for a meeting.

Everyone whom we met at the briefing was present, familiar faces stood around the table. Professor Dufour, Musa, Stella…

"Okay. I trust everyone was informed by our possession of a brown folio coded with Tanema symbols." Headmistress Griffin started and earned nods from all around.

"Good. We found out the location of the Vanikoro cave. It sits on Vanikoro isle in the earternmost part of the Solomon Islands on Earth." The headmistress of Cloud Tower speaks as a map of Earth emerged from the hologram device. A group of little islands were outlines in red; the Solomon Islands.

"We'll be sending a team of four and Palladium to Earth first thing tomorrow." Headmistress Faragonda took over and gestured to Palladium who stood not far away from her. "We've appointed Prince Sky to lead this mission."

"I've asked Techna and Helia to come. Musa also volunteered." The blonde looks at the three elders on the short end of the table, looking for approval. The elders nod.

"We have also discussed the participation of the enhanced." Faragonda's voice seemed to clear the air. Is that what we're called now? Enhanced?

"There are many risks of allowing at least one of you to join the mission, especially the risk of the wizards tracking you down…" The gray-haired woman exhaled and looked at the four of us. "But we decided that letting two of you join will be beneficial for the research."

"And if worse comes to worse and the wizards show up… we strongly trust that you can handle yourselves." Professor Saladin adds.

I find myself looking at Flora, Riven and Brandon with blank expressions. Just a pair can come... I catch Riven's eyes with a familiar expression. His eyes were darker, like when we had that conversation, he's sending me a message; an invitation. He wants me and him to finish this.

Do I really want this? I'm putting a lot of people at risk including myself. My thoughts get interrupted with Professor Saladin's raspy voice. "And since Flora is familiar with the symbol, we figured she'd be best to come along with another." Flora nods, silently accepting her role.

Fuck. I shoot Riven another look. I see him curse under his breath before increasing his volume. "I want to come too."

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